Some background:

My experience with Zimbabwean film is very limited - partly due to access and awareness deficiencies, but also because I only really started taking film as a medium with interesting things to convey other than comedy and superhero comic adaptations in 2020.

What I’ve come to expect in my experience with Zimbabwean film is that it often wants to communicate a moral message - either “Say NO To Drugs” or that abuse destroys families. Often done with the backdrop of severe economic hardship and very bluntly delivered.

Given how funding for Zimbabwean art often works, I’ve come to assume that films with these messages existed primarily as a means of raising awareness for causes championed by non-governmental organisations. So expecting anything else from Zimbabwean film other than that isn’t something I’ve ever considered.

The promotional material for the screening mentioned that the dress code for the day was inspired by the “French New Wave” - a term I’d heard of but had never bothered to look into. Knowing of Jabu’s deep admiration for film and film history, I figured going into the screening with some idea of what that was would add a layer to the experience so I watched a few videos to get an idea of what French New Wave might be before the screening.

Very gratifying viewing being able to pick up on some of these elements - aside from the black and white, there were also very definite choice inclusions - the jump cuts in the drive up to the flat, the shot of Ulysses dreading the mother’s visit that was sorta kinda fourth wall break-ish (not sure about this one)? Presumably many others that I would’ve missed as someone who learnt about this stuff three hours before.

Even besides the most obvious-to-a-beginner French New Wave elements, there were other elements to pick up on. Standing out to me was how the character names Ulysses and Ajax were references to classical Greek literature (another thing I know little about). Or the name Wyvern, the name of the giant bipedal mythological creature similar to a dragon. I mean, even with Zimbabwean naming conventions, these stood out as very deliberate choices.

A scene that was popular was that of ‘milk’ being poured into tea, in a tense leadup to the clash between mother and the main characters. Apparently the visual effect of the milk was achieved using paint and not actual milk? (shoutouts to Tiara, as art direction in film is not something I’ve ever comsidered much). What other similar visual choices went into the film??

The most interesting thing I learnt about in my brief foray into the French New Wave was the idea of auteur theory. Or the idea of the director of a film conveying their artistic ideas through film, a shift from the previous status quo at the time of studio-designed films. In what may be seen as a coincidental parallel, Residue was my first time witnessing auteur theory in action in Zimbabwean film.