A enthusiastic local film writer and director, Nathi Manana, has announced yet another production of a short film titled Mageza. It showcases a fictional character, a taxi operator who is dating a married woman.

Locals saw the film being shot in a few areas in Mpumalanga, such as KaNyamazane, Pienaar, and Mbombela in December.

Manana said it took about a week for the production team to finalise shooting the scenes.

“We are excited to say that the film will be aired in a local DStv channel. We are currently in post-production and will announce when the film shall be on TV in due time. This production comes after we noticed that there is not a lot of Mpumalanga content played on TV, so we want to close that gap and give our people something they can relate to,” he said.

“This is a great opportunity to have our work seen on national TV. We hope that it will open more doors for Mpumalanga’s film and media industry to be uplifted.”

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He said the film is a local original that portrays social issues faced by the community of Mpumalanga, which include the high rates of suicide and domestic violence.

“We are also planning a screening in Mpumalanga prior to the submission to the channel. We have received so much positive feedback from our community, and a major buzz on social media,” Manana said.

Local actors and actresses featured in the film include Paul Mandlazi as Mageza, Sam Mandleleni, Mandisa Mashaba and Vusi Ntimane.

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The Ka Gogo (Siswati drama series) writer and director believes the film will be a success through the support of locals and has already planned to shoot a sequel soon after the release.

“We appreciate the efforts made by key stakeholders to allow us to achieve our dream as we mostly work out of our own pockets. We believe we will be able to obtain more sponsorships from locals to see the success of more productions,” he said.