Nakai Matema

Film Producer

Born in 1970, Nakai Matema is a film producer with experience spanning over two decades.
Currently, she works with the Zimbabwe International Film Festival Trust as the Trust’s Producer and has also held the position of Acting Executive Trust Director for a year.

Nakai has always been involved with the film business in various capacities ever since she graduated from the Harare Polytechnic years back. Her achievements as a film producer have been locally recognized through awards at the National Arts Merit Awards, NAMA.

Internationally, invitations to film festivals around the world to talk about working in film under extraordinary circumstances bear testimony to her blossoming career. She started her career as an assistant to the Festival Coordinator on the first Southern African Film Festival (SAFF) in 1993.

The turning point in her professional film career commenced when she volunteered to participate in this festival that widened her conceptualization of the film industry while gaining invaluable experience. Nakai thrived as a producer under the pioneering ZIFFT project – Short Film Project (SFP) where many of the leading crop of filmmakers had their first hand at film making.

Nakai has worked in film production locally and internationally. She continues to work and influence film making – as film director and producer at the Zimbabwe Film and Festival Trust.

After a stint at SAFF, she landed a coordinator’s post at the Zimbabwe Film and Television Allied Workers Union (ZIFTAWU) that introduced her to the Zimbabwean film community replete with its challenges.

The experience jolted her to be more determined in building robust film institutions, a zeal that also manifested in her at the Zimbabwe International Film Festival Trust.

In pursuit of quenching her thirst for film production, Nakai enrolled for a short course in filmmaking at the UNESCO Film and Television Training Project in Harare. The project was run by the well respected Mozambican, Pedro Pimento who imparted a wealth of knowledge on Nakai and other film producers.

On completing the course in 1994, Nakai joined Zimmedia, a small independent film and video production outfit founded by Simon Bright in 1987. While there, she worked in various coordinating roles for a number of the company’s film projects that included: Tree Seeds (Documentary), SADC Music Festival (Music compilation video), and Dance for Peace (Documentary). It was during this period that Nakai worked on a Liberation War feature film -Flame.

Since 2001 Nakai has worked on many film productions, making her one of the most important producers of her generation.

She continues to inspire many young filmmakers under impossible circumstances. Models of filmmaking developed by her and others during this era will inspire many, not just in Zimbabwe but around the world. She boasts of an avalanche of film productions under her belt and her iconic stature in the industry, particularly amongst female practitioners remains motivational. — NACZ.