I am an artist, I am a writer, and I am an actress.

Interview with Langa Langelilhe from Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, by Stine Kronsted, Dreamtown’s Urban Designer.

March 2020

I am an artist, I am a writer, and I am an actress.

I write short stories and movies. I love to write write true stories about things that are happening in our communities.

I am strong because I am African

I have a written a script about depressed young girls and boys in Bulawayo. There is a general understanding that African people can’t become depressed because they are African, they are strong enough. My mission is to make our parents realize that we can be depressed. Just like all other people.  That there is no such thing that ‘We are strong enough because we are African’. We are human. The reason why young people don’t talk about their issues with their family is because we are not listened to. I feel that this is the reason for so many children committing suicide. I can go home, eat with my parents at the dinner table, we can sit together, and they do not realize that I am depressed, because they think that I am stronger than that. Especially girls who have experienced rape. They don’t have anyone to share their problems with. So I feel like writing a film about young people and depression, can shed light on this problem. It will be something that people can sit down with their families and watch, and discover the story together. I am trying to break that spirit, where parents think that their children are strong enough, because they are Africans. I believe that depression is for everyone. I feel that I should expose that, to show are parents that you can be fragile and in need of help and comfort, even though you are African.

Family matters

A big issue for me is what people generally call ‘family matters’. I am talking about all the hidden things that are going on in the families, like child abuse. People would say it is family matters, and it is supposed to stay like that. But they forget about the person who has been abused but is still staying in the house. They don’t think that person might be affected. They would say it’ just family matters, let’s just get over it, let’s just move on. I think that maybe as a family you can move on, but that person who has been abused, they do not easily move on. A family is a place where you should feel at comfort and loved. And if the children are left alone, that is where the problem is. We live in a community where people judge each other. So you don’t know where to go, you don’t know what to do, even if you do something great you don’t know who to tell, because you feel like you’re going to be judged. And then you end up not talking to anyone because you are scared of being judged.

Going to school for nothing?

I live in a community where people don’t believe in young peoples dreams. To be successful you have to be a nurse, a lawyer, a doctor. This is ‘real education’ in the eyes of many. For this reason, young people are afraid of showing what they actually are able to do. I want to show a part of life where you can use your talent. I would love to see children learning acting, writing, painting, music. When I was younger, I used to tell my mother ‘I want to be an actress’. She started screaming at my ‘Why would you want to be an actress. Can’t you see other children want to be lawyers?’ They feel like they are sending you to school for nothing, so you use a lot of energy focusing on what they think is best. I want to live in a community where our next generation grow up learning arts. Where parents allow their children to recognize their talent, to focus on what they love. I want my films to start conversations, to move people and to empower young people to pursue their dreams.