Former Matopo high School teacher produces a movie!

WHILE most teachers spend the day dirtying their hands with chalk writing on the chalkboard, going through their student’s books, one tutor has been spending his time producing a movie — a movie about nurturing the youth.
Thobeka Msipha, a former teacher at Matopo High School is the writer, editor, director and producer behind the recently released 90-minute movie titled Fortify minds.
Fortify minds is a musical movie made of a 35-member cast and all of them are students from Matopo High School. The students are also part of a choir called Joy unspeakable.
Fortify minds is a movie whose rationale is to teach the youth to be on guard from forces that want to destroy their lives by influencing them to embrace a life of delinquency.

“This movie is about a young man who gets a musical calling in his life. It seeks to capture the youth who I feel do not realise the effects of saying, doing and hearing things that do not build on their lives,’’ said Msipha.
Msipha says the moral lesson of the movie is that people should know that the battle is in the mind, that if the enemy wants to achieve a desired goal he will deal with the mind and the rest will fill into place.

Msipha is optimistic that Fortify minds will be a success and harbours ambitions to turn the movie into a series.
“I have a big idea on this movie because I hope to make it a series, but I am short of a reputable producer. I am thus appealing to established producers to come and assist me,’’ he said
All the scenes of the movie were shot at Matopo High School, in the classrooms and teachers’ cottages.

Msipha is also the man behind Joy Unspeakable. He mentored the group when he was still a teacher and made it possible for it to come up with its ten-track debut album titled Ndinxwanelu thixo.
“The choir I was leading recorded its first album in 2006 and one of the songs Beautiful Zimbabwe got Matopo High School 10 computers and a laptop for me from President Robert Mugabe,’’ he said.
The success of Joy Unspeakable saw Msipha awarded the opportunity to compose a song for the National Coral Music Competitions for high schools in 2009. He named the song Bhekisizwe seZimbabwe. The song was sung in the country’s three official languages — English, Ndebele and Shona. (This article was written by Millicent Muthenjwa a leisure reporter for Bulawayo Sunday News.)Thank you sir!