By Anesu Chakanetsa

ZANLA Comes to Town: Part Two, a documentary by Zimbabwe Heritage Trust (ZHT), has been selected for this year’s edition of Zimbabwe International Film Festival (ZIFF).
The 79-minute documentary is about the experiences of guerillas and accounts of those who supported the small-band, a commando-like unit, which bombed the Shell Fuel Depot in the heart of Salisbury’s (Harare) Southerton industrial area on December 11 1978.
The ZIFF will run from October 1-8 2016 under the theme, ‘Reel, Sound and Music’.
The theme seeks to promote the importance of quality and music in film production.
ZHT’s ZANLA Comes to Town was chosen for its quality sound and music.
The documentary was shot in the actual executing points in Southerton, Workington industrial area and the routes which the combatants used to escape after the attack.
The documentary features the actual participants of the operation who hit at the heart of the Rhodesian war machinery.
Harare residents who witnessed the aftermath of the attack are also featured in the production.
Leaders of the struggle narrate how the attack was important to Zimbabwe’s liberation struggle.
The main objective of the attack was to show the Rhodies that there was no area which the freedom fighters could not attack.
They stripped away any false sense of security they had.
The actual plans and execution of the bombing is dealt with in ZANLA Comes to Town: Part One.
Part One of the documentary has also been shown at the festival.
The festival director, Elton Mjanana, said the documentary had been selected for its brilliant historical importance.
“It is an important story which tells our story in a simple way, it appeals to the public as well,” he said.
However, Mjanana said stories of this sort need to be well-produced into feature-action films to appeal more to youth audience who are intrigued by real movements.
“We have also chosen the film on the basis that it continues from Part One, but these stories need to be featured as films as well that would continuously appeal to Zimbabwe’s young audience,” he said.
In Part One, nine comrades, Member Kuvhiringidza, Lobo, Nhamo, States Mudzvanyiriri, Taketime, Brian Chimurenga, Norest Muhondo, Poison and Damage Bombs are tasked to hit the fuel depot by Josiah Tungamirai, ZANLA’s Political Commissar, and the team is put together by Cde Perence Shiri, the current Airforce Commander.
Part One of the documentary ends at the actual execution of the bombing.
And Part Two begins with comrades making a hasty retreat with the enemy hot on their heels.
The documentary is produced and directed by Masimba Musariri while Ashwin Sikireta is the line producer/director.
The research, shooting and post production took about a year, according to the producer, Musariri.
The production crew also includes students from different tertiary institutions.
The documentary is one of the few locally-produced pieces of documented narratives that gives a vivid insight into the nature of the liberation struggle.
The act, which is labelled as a devastating blow to the enemy psychologically, politically, economically and militarily, sent shockwaves to the generality of Rhodesia and her allies.
ZHT, which produced the documentary, is a non-profit making organisation with interests on preservation and documentation of the country’s history and heritage.
ZHT’s Deputy Chief Executive Officer and Programme Officer, Cde Canaan Mugadzaweta, said it is important for the victors of the struggle to tell their story.
“It is our duty as Zimbabweans to publish and document how it all happened in the clearest manner possible,” he said.
“As they say, history is written by the victors, we are the victors and we are telling our story in our own way.
“Rhodesians, because of the abundant resources, have been able to publish books and documentaries that cast themselves as victors, yet they were defeated.
“We must tell our own story.”