Botswana is pinning its Hollywood hopes on a new film based on the bestselling fiction series The No 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency.
In a controversial move, the government has gambled $5-million to promote the Southern African country’s star power to movie buffs around the globe.
Work on the film, based on Alexander McCall Smith’s novels about an intrepid female sleuth, began this month as the first major production hosted by the arid country more famous for diamonds and wildlife than movie-star glamour.
Directed by Anthony Minghella (Cold Mountain and The English Patient), the movie features American singer Jill Scott in the lead role of Precious Ramotswe — the owner of a Botswana detective agency.
Singer and actress Anika Noni Rose, who starred in the film Dreamgirls, will play Ramotswe’s secretary, Grace Makutsi.
”The movie has two primary characters. One is Mma Ramotswe and the other is Botswana as a whole. It tries to tell a story of what is wonderful, what is magical, about Botswana and about the rest of Africa,” Minghella said in an interview.
But the magic is missing for some residents of Botswana, who say the government’s $5-million offer to underwrite the movie demonstrates a case of misplaced priorities for a country that, despite its mineral riches, remains largely poor.
”What is government trying to do? Where have you seen that being done anywhere else in the world?” fumed one participant in a radio call-in programme. ”I think our government has a wrong interpretation of the word tourism.”
Marketing
Minister of Tourism Kitso Mokaila, whose ministry was responsible for the $5-million film fund, insisted the movie presents ”a rare opportunity” for Botswana to market itself as a premier African travel destination.
”People can say what they want. But I can tell you that this decision, taken with the approval of Cabinet, was not a mistake as it will go a long way in ensuring that Botswana and what it can offer in terms of tourism get international recognition,” said Mokaila.
Botswana has been struggling to diversify its economy from over-reliance on diamonds, which currently account for about one-third of the country’s export earnings.
”We always talk diversification of the economy, and when an opportunity like this avails itself we start pointing fingers,” said Mokaila.
Radio talk-show host Shombi Ellis — who has a minor role in the movie — said she was disappointed with most of the sentiments aired on her show, where callers repeatedly questioned the wisdom of pumping money into movie-making.
”We are sending a wrong message to the rest of the world. People have to understand that if government had not stood up on this, we could have lost out to countries like South Africa who have more advanced film industries than us,” Ellis said.
McCall Smith’s books have been a stunning global success, selling more than 15-million English-language copies alone.
They have already been credited with sparking a mini tourism boom in Botswana, a former British protectorate with a population of about two million. A growing number of tourists are visiting Mochudi, the hometown of Ramotswe.
Traditionally built?
The movie sparked a minor controversy in Botswana when a South African casting agency rejected 18 local women shortlisted to play Ramotswe on the big screen, saying they were unsuitable to portray the ”traditionally built” fictional character.
Oscar-nominated hip-hop diva Queen Latifah, US talk-show queen Oprah Winfrey and actress Whoopi Goldberg were among those floated as possibilities for the role, which eventually went to Scott, a Grammy-award winning singer.
And while international readers have lapped up the adventures of Mma Ramotswe — a strong female figure who tries to find moral solutions to life’s many problems — Botswana’s book buyers have been slow to warm to the woman who may become their country’s emblem.
Martina Seetso, manager of Exclusive Books in Gaborone, said McCall Smith is not a bestseller there, although interest has been growing with the start of movie production.
”They are just popular enough, if you get what I mean. But in the past three weeks the sales seem to have improved a bit because people are curious to know what the hype is all about,” Seetso said. — Reuters