by Carol Naidu from India,

On 27th January 2020, I watched a movie, together with 20 people in Syburg in the Kotela partnership, Tanzanian movie, named (hadithi za kumekucha: Tuna), which is named as Sunrise story in English.

 

Usually, I watch Indian movies or Hollywood movies on Netflix. It was my first ever Tanzanian movie; this kind of movies are rarely watched in my country as well in Germany. Because of Josephat, I got a chance to watch this movie in Germany. Usually, we are unaware about the things (current affairs, situations, life, etc.) that is going on in different countries, this movie gave me a view about people living in Tanzania. And, I think Josephat wanted to give everybody watching this film, in that room, a small view about Tanzania and the people living in that country.

The story was based on reality, of a boy named “Mashoto”, who works as a conductor in the city. He left his village and got settled, hoping to have a better life in the city, as he was poor. The urban life offered him a luxurious life, as compared to the life which he lived in the village, Mashoto loved his life. He didn’t think about the people and the life that he had in the village, until the time when he got bad news about his mother.

He had to return back to his village, as he lost his mother. He believed that the land is cursed and wanted to return back to the city. He didn’t have enough of money to go back in the city, so he starts working with the people, who worked for the rich man, who was evil and greedy, who forcefully purchased food grains from the farmers, in very less price and sold it in the city for more price. Mashoto had a very hard time in order to find his purpose in the village.

Later on, he falls in love with a village girl, he not only tries to do right by her but also, he did right by all the people who were bullied by this rich man. He also fought for his identity and later on he realised that, he can find purpose anywhere.

German people who watched this movie also gave their reviews, they said:

“We are impressed, the film takes us into the beautiful landscape of Tanzania in the north of Dar es Salaam, to the big city of Dar and to the inner conflicts of the young man Mashoto, who loses his mother and thus his base. He repeatedly finds himself in difficult situations, gets involved in conflicts. Debt? You suffer with the protagonist. The conditions described, such as: Exploitation of labour by a fraudster, scenes of violence among young people are realistic, as Josephat confirms. Albino – often discriminated against in Tanzania – plays a very positive role, using advanced methods in agriculture and prospering. Lightness, Mashoto’s great love, works by his side. A progressive, hard-working woman who corresponds to today’s image of women in Tanzania. We are relieved that there is a „Happy End“! The actors, the camera, the light, often adapted to the content of the scene, are excellent. The film is not very well known in Tanzania, where „action movies“ are more in demand. Strange to us that the „kiss scene“ becomes virtually invisible through blurring. That must be the case, because in Tanzania you do not kiss in public! Thanks to Josephat for presenting us with this wonderful film of his country!“

I personally think that this movie was really good and very emotional, specially when Mashoto cries on his mother’s grave. It made me realise one of the most important thing, that I should show my love and spend time with my loved ones, before it gets too late because life is unpredictable and I never know who gets to stay and who will leave me. Apart from this, I also got to know that, no matter where, women are more hard working then men. And as much as I hate to say this, the hardest truth is poor people are always exploited and treated in a very bad way. I see this is in India as well. I also got to know about Albino people, I never knew that they were treated badly in Tanzania. This movie also gave me a very important message that home is where your heart is and I would really recommend you all to watch this movie on You tube and guess what it is for free.

So, this was my review about this movie and I would like to hear yours as well.