ZIMBABWE meets Hollywood in a movie set to be filmed in the Eastern Highlands early next year.

Brainstorm Entertainment Media, a motion picture production company based in Los Angeles and owned by young Zimbabweans, is working on the epic adventure story Nzinga starring Sanaa Lathan (Love and Basketball, Brown Sugar, Best Man).

"We have signed Lathan to star as Nzinga with her box-office gross being approximately US$30m," said Simbai Chizengeni, one of the producers.

"The movie will feature (film) stars from the US and South Africa, with Euzhan Palcy as the director. Palcy has already worked in Zimbabwe, having directed A Dry White Season (shot in Zimbabwe) and Sugar Cane Alley," he added.

Nzinga will be filmed in Zimbabwe and Angola with the production crew coming from South Africa, Angola and Zimbabwe.

The movie, set to be filmed early next year, is currently in its pre-production stage. Nzinga tells the story of Queen Nzinga of Angola and her resistance to slavery and European colonisation. Nzinga was a fearless warrior who managed to blur the distinction between male and female warriors.

According to script writer, Edward Chitate, the story of Nzinga begins when at the age of 15 she witnesses the massacre of an entire village by marauding Portuguese slave traders - an event that would forever be etched in her memory.

"We track Nzinga's life as we see her fall in love and overcome the treachery of her brother and other African chiefs to eventually claim the throne. Queen Nzinga's legend grows to mythical proportions as she manages to defeat the Portuguese and curb their slave raids and forays into the interior of Angola," said Chitate.

Chitate, who is also the producer of Nzinga and founder of Brainstorm Entertainment Media has written, directed and produced two feature films in Los Angels; Almost Too Late and Faux Pas. He has also directed and produced two music videos; Black Queen and Love in the Club.

His first production, Almost Too Late, is a romantic drama about a girl dealing with sickle cell illness while Faux Pas is a black murder mystery starring Monica Calhoun (Best Man).

Currently, Chitate says he is also working on a black TV drama series Howard Blues, which is told from the perspective of medical school students.