As part of an environmental preservation awareness drive, renowned film-maker Donald Mabido launched a waste management documentary at Warren Park Community Hall.

Titled Waste-Who is responsible?, the film highlights the residents’ responsibility in preserving their environment. “I point out our part as residents in waste management. The film is centred on reducing, reusing and recycling waste at community level,” said producer and director Donald Mabido.

Mabido employs humour and satire to grab the attention of his viewers. “We added humour as ointment to attract interest and drive our message home,” he said.

The film sees different characters from his trending comedy platform Ghetto Chapters appear from time to time, creatively diverting from the norms of documentary making. “Ghetto Chapters has been a huge eye opener on how satire and comedy can push serious issues on the agenda of community discussions, and environmental issues are as serious and important as other topics which our platform pushes forward,” said Mabido.

As if the humour in the documentary was not enough, City of Harare officials were at the core of a dramatic launch, after they blocked Mabido from using the community hall as pre-arranged.

“So council had given me the community hall for free but on the day of the event they demanded payment after seeing EMA (Environmental Management Agency) and other organisations that had turned up forgetting that we had signed a booking contract.The event had to be delayed for one and a half hours,” said Mabido.

From specially using a venue that targets residents in his community, Mabido is now working on a screening program in other communities. “We are now preparing for a schools outreach program where we will screen in different schools. We will encourage children to invite their parents to attend the screening so as to attract both the young and adults for an educative viewing,” he said.

Mabido is a renowned film-maker with years of experience. His most popular work is the feature film Two Villages Apart which outlines the need for national healing.