GWERU based Zim Cultural Splash has come up with a film that promotes omnism, at a time when
most visual and performing arts and groups are promoting culture.
The omnism promotion movie recognizes the legitimacy of other religions in the sense that they
believe each religion holds its own fragment of the “truth.”
The movie titled Nyikadzimu to be premiered next month and is now available on Youtube and
Facebook platforms. It consists of 40 actors.
On this 25 episode Shona teleplay (Nyikadzimu), omnism has been portrayed as a syncretistic
religion – a type of belief system that combines features of religions with each other. This usually
happens when cultures combine, however, such as when a foreign religion is introduced via
intercultural or inter-religious matrimony and colonialism.
In truth, today’s society has taught that religious stigmatisation on the basis of stereotypes and
misconceptions are irrelevant and incorrect.
In this thrilling must-watch movie, Zim Culture Splash, dispute that people of different religions are
not ‘monsters’ and ‘backward savages,’ but rather a beautiful collection of loving and peaceful
ideologies that have a lot in common.
According to the author, Knowledge Muzondo the movie is an attempt to unite religions that were
torn apart by politics and stereotypes.
Modern aspects of life which has seen more advancement in science and technology, have taught
people much about the things they did not know and opened their eyes to the truth, different from
the one portrayed in religious texts. Nyikadzimu however, lays bare the naked truth about the
beauty of all religious set-up in the society.
The script was edited and directed by Siphosami Ndlovu, filmed by Pasca Manhivi of Hodzeko Media
Productions. The other editors are Brendon Pedzi and Rossenfell Matizha.
In an exclusive interview, Ndlovu said his extensive research has it that religions, regardless of how
accurate one finds them to be, serve as a means to attaining a more spiritual and deeper perspective
in existence and life.
“Nyikadzimu is a unique play which has seen all its episodes hold deep philosophical contexts
beneath the parabolic surface and they all tell a similar story of multi-religious perspective towards
one God, the Almighty,” he said.
While we may have countless religions, he said, they all believe and serve one God.
“It may differ in languages. Some call him God, Shonas call him Mwari/ Musikavanhu, Moslems call
him Allah, Ndebeles call him Unkulunkulu/ Uthixo. It is a multilateral and multi-lingual name in one,
all feeding to the Almighty God,” Ndlovu said.
While some episodes of the play depict many divided opinions regarding the role of religion in
society, the truth is that all of these opinions take on different approaches to notions that can be
easily viewed from different angles.
As a result, the many-isms that pop up serve to define the attitudes of the people towards the
religious and spiritual interpretations of reality and existence. The most common approaches to this
are the monotheistic (there is one God) and atheistic (there is no God) viewpoints which are on the
opposite sides of the spectrum.
In between, there is deism (the belief that there is a God who does not get personally involved),
polytheism (the belief in many gods), and agnosticism (the uncertainty that there is a God).
