By Elizabeth D.T. Taderera
Popular for producing films such as 2002’s Danai, Rumbi Katedza is a filmmaker born on the 17th of January 1974. She first studied in Harare, Zimbabwe and later got a Bachelor of Arts in English from McGill University in Canada in the year 1995. Katedza received the Chevening Scholarship that helped her to further her film education in 2008. She has a MA in Filmmaking which she got from the Goldsmiths College at the London University.
Aside from being a director and film producer she is a part-time lecturer at the University of Zimbabwe in the Theatre and Arts department. She also judges and monitors films at the National Arts Merits Awards (NAMA). Katedza monitors new film and TV productions on behalf of the National Arts Council of Zimbabwe and has encouraged the Zimbabwean government to support the film industry actively.
Katedza doesn’t only work in film, she is also a writer, producer and presenter of radio shows. She has produced and presented radio shows focused on Women’s issues, Arts and Culture, Hip Hop and Acid Jazz for the CKUT (Montreal) and ZBC Radio 3 from the year 1994 to 2000. Katedza was the Festival director from 2004-2006 of the Zimbabwe International Film Festival. She founded a production house called Mai Jai films under which many films and television productions have been released.
Selected Filmography
- Danai (2002)
- Postcards from Zimbabwe (2006)
- Trapped (2006 – Rumbi Katedza, Marcus Korhonen)
- Asylum (2007)
- Insecurity Guard (2007)
Mai Jai Films
- Tariro (2008)
- Big House, Small House (2009)
- The Axe and the Tree (2011)
- The Team (2011)
- Playing Warriors (2012)
