Cook Off

Not to be confused with the 2007 American mockumentary comedy film Cook Off!.

Cook Off
Film poster
Directed byTomas Brickhill
Written byTomas Brickhill
Produced byJoe Njagu
StarringTendaiishe Chitima
Fungai Majaya
Tehn Diamond
Music byRyan Koriya
Production
company
Mufambanidzo Film Company
Distributed byMufambanidzo Film Company
Netflix
Release date
  • 31 December 2017 (2017-12-31)
Running time
101 minutes
CountryZimbabwe
LanguageEnglish

Cook Off is a 2017 Zimbabwean romantic comedy film written and directed by Tomas Brickhill.[1] Set in contemporary middle class society of Harare, the film stars Tendaiishe Chitima, Fungai Majaya and Tehn Diamond.[2] Production of the film was constantly hit with power failures, budget constraints, anti-government protests and riots which erupted during the final stages of the Presidency of Robert Mugabe. It became the first film to be released after the Zimbabwe Mugabe era which lasted for nearly 40 years.[3] The film also became the first Zimbabwean film to be streamed on Netflix.[4][5] It received international media attention since its release on the Netflix platform in June 2020.[6] It is only the second Zimbabwean film to receive international attention after Neria.[7] The film is hailed as one of the finest ever films in the Cinema of Zimbabwe after Neria and Yellow Card and opened to extremely positive response from Zimbabweans. The film is credited with shattering stereotypes of the Zimbabwean film industry which had been crippled by economic crisis and hyperinflation in the country.[8]

  1. ^ "Zimbabwe: Faces Behind Zim's First Netflix Hit". allAfrica.com. 15 June 2020. Retrieved 5 October 2020.
  2. ^ Dray, Kayleigh (24 June 2020). "Meet Tendaiishe Chitima, star of Netflix's record-breaking romcom". Stylist. Retrieved 5 October 2020.
  3. ^ "Post-Mugabe film premieres in Los Angeles". Bulawayo24 News. Retrieved 5 October 2020.
  4. ^ "Defying all odds: Zimbabwean romcom Cook Off makes Netflix debut". www.aljazeera.com. Retrieved 5 October 2020.
  5. ^ "'Cook Off' Becomes First Independent Zimbabwean Film to be Acquired by Netflix". OkayAfrica. 18 May 2020. Retrieved 5 October 2020.
  6. ^ Reuters Editorial. "'Cook Off' serves up Zimbabwe's Netflix film debut | Reuters Video". www.reuters.com. Retrieved 5 October 2020. {{cite web}}: |author= has generic name (help)
  7. ^ "Zimbabwe's Cook Off: How an $8,000 romcom made it to Netflix". BBC News. 23 June 2020. Retrieved 5 October 2020.
  8. ^ "Cook Off movie revives Zimbabwe's film muscle". The Chronicle. Retrieved 5 October 2020.