Marc T Mandisoul is a Zimbabwean filmmaker known for his bold, ambitious and explorative storylines with cosmopolitan themes.

Consumers of ZimFlix (the collective term given to the Zimbabwean television and cinema industry) will remember the epic feature ‘State of Malambia‘, which some had the enjoyment of likening to the ‘Black Panther’s‘ Wakanda world.

Complete with a stellar, culturally diverse cast, meticulously curated cinematography, rustic settings and envelope-ripping marketing style; the production was undoubtedly Mandisoul’s way of trying to take the unadulterated African story to the world. His method and style screams it all loud and clear, the ultimate destination for his craft is the global stage.

Taking indie-made Zimbabwean content to international platforms and competing for honours in prestigious awards like the Oscars surely does sound like a pipe-dream, what with all the odds stacked to the disadvantage of the average filmmaker from a dog-eat-dog industry. But when your name is Marc T Mandisoul and you have the right dose of both passion and ambition to drive you into pro-action and taking things into your own hands, perhaps it doesn’t take that much long before the pipe-dream transforms into an actual pipeline with great expectations being conducted inside.

Sometime in 2024, it was announced that Marc T Mandisoul had founded the Zimbabwe Oscars Committee, a body mandated to pick the best film to represent Zimbabwe at the Annual Academy Awards in Hollywood under the ‘Best International Feature Film‘ category. This positive development meant that we might see a meriting Zimbabwean film scooping a gong or simply getting a nomination at the glitzy Oscars in our lifetime.

Recently, this writer also stumbled upon something that looked like another outstanding positive for the local storytelling industry; a Zimbabwean Netflix Original currently auditioning for talent. No prize for guessing it right, it’s of course no one but Marc T Mandisoul and his Entertainment Afrika Studios are behind this historic achievement.

The project in question is running under the working title ‘House of Stone‘ and is a Pan African series bringing together production studios from different locations around the globe; South Africa, Nigeria, Dubai, UK, USA among others.

This project, according to Mandisoul, is one of a bunch of projects to come out in 2025, including a feature titled ‘Dunamis‘, set to premiere on the 31st of January, 2025.

Eager to put more perspective to this development, this writer sought the exclusive input of the man of the moment himself, Marc T Mandisoul. Below are excerpts of the interview between the writer, Elias Muonde (EM) and Marc T Mandisoul (MTM).

EM: Hello Marc, thank you for making time out of your busy schedule to chat with us. I understand you have a big premiere coming up on the 31st and your hands are full. Let’s quickly talk about the premiere before diving into the main subject of the day (which I think is so important that it deserves the urgency and status of “Breaking News”, but anyway…) How and why is this premiere a big thing?

MTM: Dunamis Premiere is set for the 31st of January 2025 and is a red carpet event designed to showcase the film for the first time and is the first of four Premieres for the film before the official cinema run and distribution.

EM: Is there going to be a theatre run for ‘Dunamis’ after the premiere?

MTM: The project will run in cinemas before streaming on a major global platform towards the end of March 2025 and the film is also headed for two huge international film festivals.

EM: Now let’s dive into the main and juicy one: Your production house is currently auditioning talent for ‘House of Stone’, tagged ‘A Netflix Original’ on the promo materials. Now this sounds really huge and newsworthy: you surely are the first Zimbabwean filmmaker to have a Netflix Original project and congratulations to you. Tell us more!

MTM: I have created relationships with four distribution platforms including Netflix , Showmax, Hulu and Amazon to produce and distribute my work in 2025. ‘House of Stone’ original series is just one of four projects coming and we have a huge feature film ‘Land of The Dead’ that will feature a top Hollywood star and has a budget of US$20 million. We have just shot ‘Midnight Sky’ a supernatural thriller also going onto Netflix and there is five seasons, another feature film loading.

EM: Are you in a position to share with us the budget and production timelines?

MTM: I cant really focus on shining the spotlight on the project and other future projects right now because the attention is on ‘Dunamis’ and yes we have exciting budgets for all projects coming up in 2025.

EM: Your first project (or was it your first at all?), ‘State of Malambia’, made a lot of noise in the film community long before its epic Christmas night release on ZBC TV some years ago. You seem to be really good in the field of marketing and publicity as far as film business is concerned. What’s your method? Do you engage the services of dedicated marketing personnel to do what the average Zimbabwean filmmaker really struggles with most?

MTM: Marketing is a key part of every business and I come from a commercial broadcasting background so I think I understand how to promote a product better than most. I also have a team that is great at this work at Entertainment Afrika Studios and Novellus Media. Novellus is the wing of our business that specialises in financing, marketing and distribution process.

EM: I understand you are behind an initiative to get Zimbabwean films onto the prestigious Academy Awards platform (The Zimbabwe Oscars Committee or something like that). How does the process work?

MTM: The Zimbabwe Oscars Committee was formed because it is a requirement by the Academy for a country to submit a film into the Oscars specifically for the International Feature Film Award. However I am not limited to that category alone and when I submit my films its from a different hat. That committee chooses the best film to represent Zimbabwe at the Oscars in that category only.

EM: In your opinion as a filmmaker who’s been in the grind for a while; does Zimbabwe have ‘Oscars worthy’ content right now?

MTM: Zimbabwe has filmmakers capable of producing Oscar worthy projects. The biggest challenge is in the mind for most and we place limitations on ourselves and we always waiting for someone to give us something first and thats not how the world works. People want to see something from you first before they can invest in you and its a model I have been selling to others for years but they resisted until God blessed us with a new generation in the industry that we are now growing with into these commercial spaces and big money projects.

Also, back to the issue of marketing; it’s all about the brand. As a filmmaker or any other creative you need to cultivate a brand people like to follow and a creative process that attracts the attention of the people. Get yourself into that space where people within your industry are invested and interested in what you are doing. Everyone will watch even from the terraces or distance if you have a captivating personality and brand and we as filmmakers should be aware of this as well. It goes way beyond just the product when it comes to marketing and promotions.

That also attracts people outside the industry and I believe my earlier work as a national radio and television personality gives me more reach outside the film community than most if not all others!