Imagine the first-ever film about World War Two coming out now," says Flame's co-producer, Simon Bright. "Some of the relatives could have a problem getting their heads round it."
Some of the relatives did have a problem getting their heads round Flame, a brutally frank portrayal of Zimbabwe's 1972-1980 civil war. Outraged at a scene where a girl is brutally raped by a soldier, the powerful war veteran's lobby accused Bright and debut feature director Ingrid Sinclair of denigrating the so-called Liberation War.
"I was living in a state of terror," remembers Sinclair, explaining how the husband-and-wife team received death threats, were vilified by the press and made TV news headlines for three nights running. "British filmmakers would appreciate that level of publicity," says Bright wryly.
The offending spool of celluloid involved tells the story of Florence (Marian Kunonga) and Nyasha (Ulla Mahaka), two peasant girls fighting alongside men, under the names of Flame and Liberty. The war over, they find themselves lost in a world where a woman's role is to bow before her husband and remain at his beck and call.
"No one knows about the women's side," says Sinclair, who spent five years talking to female vet-erans to research Flame. "When I asked if they minded a white woman telling their story, they said: 'Do it! Because you can'."
With the Zimbabwean and Namibian governments supporting the US$1.3 million production, the filmmakers qualified for a US$300,000 top-up from the EC's regional development fund.
They were also lent rocket launchers, firearms and two Hawker Hunter jets from the Zimbabwean Airforce. "Those explosions were real," chuckles Bright. "We used the live ammo they gave us because we couldn't afford dummies."
Flame's selection for Cannes testifies to the readiness of African filmmakers to adapt to rapidly changing times. "I used to produce political documentaries, focusing on the impact of apartheid," explains Bright. "Now it's time to examine our past more critically. Flame was a cathartic process for the whole nation."
Adam Minns
