Denis Opudo
Shamola Kharkar’s interest in storytelling emanated from her ancestral background. She explained how they used to tell stories irrespective of the power blackout in Zambia. She took 7 years in Chapman where she graduated with two masters’ degree. She pursued masters in business administration and in fine arts in film production. In partnership with the Dodge College of Film and Media Arts, she qualified for Emmy nomination.
She began by saying that her childhood was full of confusion. For instance, she wanted to pursue pilot, dentistry, film and so on. Back home in Zambia, almost all teachers knew her by names. She applied or Chapman and was successful to secure a chance for further studies.
She was also thrilled by Chapman transformation and growth. The school attracts students from over fifty-two countries. The campus was full of white students that enabled her network and learn from friends.
The fact is that Chapman is like her home and contributes one-third of her life. The most annoying thing with the place according to her is shutting down of services by 10 p.m.
She noted that in 2016, she managed to produce a short film lasting for nine minutes. The film was Dodged like and entitled “The Monkey King is in Town.” It was about teenager Chinese- America boy who was to dress up for Halloween event. Despite all his friends dressing like superheroes’, he wanted to be the superman. The film tacked the issues concerning culture bias and stereotype.
Currently, she is offering services to the school by producing students’ thesis shootings. She also takes part in screen actors’ production and startup entertainment.
She also said that the first thing is to draw work plan and come up with the suitable package. She would long for launching a film academy Zambia. This initiative will transform the film sector through training and mentoring program.
An adventurous filmmaker is her main future ambition. She plans to go to India and benchmark on films style. She will then bring back the innovative technology in the film industry to Africa as well.
