On Sunday, Mzansi Magic invited Insider to a private pre-screening of “Gqeberha: The Empire” at The Boardwalk Hotel, Casino and Convention Centre.
The cast of the show were in attendance as the first episode was screened at the beautiful ocean-facing hotel’s convention centre.
Produced by the multi-award-winning Tshedza Pictures (“The River”, “The Republic”, “Legacy”), this is notably the first Mzansi Magic telenovela filmed entirely in the Eastern Cape.
On first viewing, the first episode left much to be desired and we left feeling that there was certainly room for improvement in several aspects, most notably in terms of the editing of the show and the storyline in general.
This is perhaps to be expected given that this is a brand new show shot in a province that’s never had to produce something of this magnitude before.
Despite this, I’m looking forward to seeing how the storyline (and the storytelling) will develop over time.
The star-studded cast includes Zikhona Sodlaka (“The Wife”, “Blood Psalms”), Zandile Msutwana (“Grootboom & Sons”, “The Queen”), Mbulelo Grootboom (“Wounds”, “Suidooster”) and Kay Bikitsha (“The Queen”).
Shirley Adonisi, who is Director: M-Net, Local Entertainment Channel, spoke to “IOL Entertainment” on the inspiration behind the decision to shoot in Gqeberha and how significant a moment this is for local television.
“We have a beautiful country that is rich because of its diversity,” Adonisi said.
“There are many beautiful places that some people won’t see for themselves. The aim is to showcase these iconic places in the most authentic way that viewers can relate to.”
She said they also wanted to expose viewers to different and rich cultures and languages such as the Xhosa language in the Eastern Cape.
“The Eastern Cape has a wealth of untapped story and talent and when the perfect story was pitched to us it felt like things had aligned for us to work at building an important project like this telenovela.”
“Gqeberha: The Empire” premières on Mzansi Magic (DStv Channel 161) on Monday, January 16, at 9pm.