Shemu Joyah hopes for a smile in Blantyre
After his successful premiere of his third movie The Road to Sunrise last Friday in Lilongwe, Shemu Joyah now brings the film to Robin’s Park in Blantyre tomorrow.
This is one of the popular venues in Blantyre where, coincidentally, Joyah also shot some of the scenes in the film.
Despite the screening in Lilongwe being a success, the patronage was disappointing.
Joyah will thus be hoping for nothing but a good turnout in Blantyre tomorrow.
“We are ready. Of course, we have had some challenges but all is well and we call upon people to come and sample the film,” Joyah said.
The film is strictly rated 18 and above.
While in Lilongwe the entry fee was K10, 000, the entry fee in Blantyre is K7,500.
Those who watched The Road to Sunrise in Lilongwe have described it as a good movie with a good storyline.
The movie has already shown its strength as after it recently won the Special Recognition Award for a Narrative Feature Film at the Silicon Valley African Film Festival in USA.
According to the filmmaker, who also features in the movie, The Road To Sunrise is a human drama about exploitation, gender-based violence, love, hope, friendship and the untiring human spirit in its quest for survival and freedom.
Joyah said the film interrogates society’s view of women who are exploited through the sex industry, and exposes how society uses double standards to judge the men who exploit prostitutes.
“The story has a profound message to the youth of today, particularly girls, on how they can empower themselves and avoid exploitation,” the director said.
From the trailer, one is able to appreciate the great work that Joyah and team put up. The picture quality is good and, so, is the sound.
In the film, Joyah has run away from using well-known actors that starred in his two previous award winning movies – Seasons of A Life and The Last Fishing Boat.
The actors playing lead roles are all new and they are Mirriam Phiri who plays Rubia, Chantelle Phiri who stars as Watipa, and Madock Masina who acts as Shoti, the switchblade-welding pimp.
Although Joyah has used new faces, he still has kept some old faces who were part of his previous works and they include Ben Msuku, Tapiwa Gwaza and Hope Chisanu.
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