Harare — John Riber can boast of having four successful feature films under his belt - Neria, More Time, Everyone's Child and of late, Yellow Card.

Says Riber: "I grew up with a strong liking for photography and I was also blessed with a good visual sense and when I discovered that I needed a practical vehicle to carry me forward, I took a course in film making. That is where it all begun."

In 1986, John found himself on the team of the organisation, Pathfinder International, which was tasked with coming to Africa to do research and lay the possible ground work for a film project.

"At first I was reluctant but then I said to myself, 'why not?' and after visiting four countries, we finally chose Zimbabwe because of the government support we received," he recalls. The result was his first project, Consequences.

Distribution was the next hurdle Riber faced, prompting him to establish Media for Development Trust, a company whose core business is film distribution. Today, the trust boasts a distribution base of more than 200.

The year 1990 saw John producing the film Neria, which starred Jesesi Mungoshi and Dominic Kanevanti. Many Zimbabweans found much to identify with in this film, especially in its portrayal of the problems arising out of death. Neria went on to win the OAU award for best African film. Two years later, John produced a film for the youth entitled More Time. It starred the then 16-year- olds Prudence Katomeni and Webster Gonzo. More Time delved into the transition from childhood to the teenage stage, in the face of the menacing Aids epidemic. This film went on to win an M-Net award.

As the number of locally made movies increased, some disgruntlement was expressed that these films were too education-oriented and too representative of the desires of the donors.

John replies: "Yes, most people would think so, but I make films for Africa and not 'about' Africa and I have always been a humanitarian sort of person. Yes the films have this educative orientation, but you see the donors have clearly spelt out programmes that they want to fund, so as a film maker I create something in line with what they are supporting.

"For example, with this Aids epidemic, donor organisations may have millions of dollars to inject in Aids programmes so my job is now to create something that will guarantee them a big coverage in terms of mileage and awareness. So it's not that they control what we produce."

In 1996, Riber produced a film which touched on the plight of street children and it starred a very talented cast which included former Miss Zimbabwe, Angeline Musasiwa, Ihawulesizwe's Chunky Phiri and Nomsa Mlambo. The sound track compact disc of Every One's Child did very well, especially tracks by Chiwoniso Maraire and also George Phiri's track I'd Rather Be A Gangster.

Last year, Media For Development Trust came out with Yellow Card, which had a bit of an educational message to it.

But in the main it was for fun and relaxation. Starring the athletic Leroy Gopal and vivacious Kasa-mba Mkumba, Yellow Card won two people's prizes in Zanzibar last year.

Piracy has not spared this infant industry either, and-surprisingly-John thinks it has its advantages.

"Distribution is still at a very slow pace, so piracy helps in a way, though I would recommend these flea market operators buy from us since ours is of better quality than what they duplicate on their own."

On the relationship between film makers and ZTV, John had this to say: "ZTV pay us between $600 and $700 to flight each of our productions and we simply agree to it for mileage, otherwise the benefit is financially insignificant."

A few projects are in the pipeline, including a documentary on Oliver Mtukudzi, as well as documentaries on the tribal and political conflicts, dogging some African countries such as Uganda.