The future looks bleak for local film producers - Lekolwane

Gasebalwe Seretse
Correspondent | Wednesday January 9, 2013 00:00

 

'There is no hope in the film and television industry until the country gets a properly functioning and privately-owned broadcaster,' she said.

The producer who owns a production company called Handprint said that having a major breakthrough in the industry is hard and that one has to slave away in order to survive. Lekolwane is famous for her Ya le nna Nigeria trilogy which has been doing well locally.

To be able to make it in the dog-eat-dog industry, Lekolwane has teamed up with Choppies to sell her products.Some of her DVDs that are available at Choppies include Beauty trilogy, Ya le nna Nigeria trilogy, Matsale Part 1 and The Dancing Gods of the Kalahari. The Dancing Gods of the Kalahari is a documentary based on the Kuru San Dance Festival while others are dramas. The producer happily told Showbiz that since Choppies is spread all over the country, her films are available nationwide.

The hardworking Lekolwane further said that she plans to target Tswana, Sotho and Pedi speakers in South Africa where the market promises to be even bigger.'This year, I want to make sure that my DVDs reach Sotho/Tswana speakers in South Africa and I already have an agent there,' she asserted.

Fortunately for the producer, most of her films have already shown on DSTV's Africa Magic channel which means her works have a following from all over Africa, which might work in her favour. Lekolwane said that some of the challenges she faces as a producer is meeting production costs and dealing with 'prima donna' actors.

'I take time to train some of my actors, but down the line some of them begin to feel like they are big stars and start making impossible demands,' she said.  Lekolwane further said that since she has her own equipment, this help cuts her production costs and the only time she parts with large sums of money is when she pays her actors and buys costumes.

The producer said at one point she thought of relocating to South Africa where it is widely believed that there are better opportunities but later abandoned the idea. Lekolwane feels that despite the crippling challenges that she faces in Botswana, she is determined to remain an independent film producer until she has a major breakthrough.