Walt Mzengi corey: Rising star in the film making scene

Tanzania is filled with extraordinary storytellers whose works are molded by own experiences, knowledge alongside unique details revealed by their growing talents. One of the emerging storytellers who is a filmmaker is Walt Mzengi, one of top six winners of a short film competition organized by Netflix, a global streaming service and United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco).

Like many creatives, Walt did not start out his career in filmmaking. In fact he started working as a marketing officer at Pizza hut Tanzania.

In spite of not knowing that his first attempt at filmmaking would influence him to glance at it as a profession, Walt started recording himself alongside his friends skateboarding.

“I remember forming a skateboarding community in Dar es Salaam where we would meet on a weekly basis and record ourselves while we were skateboarding. I did not look at the way I recorded them as a career, it was just a hobby,” he recalls.

At the time he was working a marketing job at Pizza hut. One day while he was seating on his desk, thoughts clouded his head ‘this is not what I am supposed to do’. He dared himself to exploit his hobby, filmmaking and see what how it works for him.

Walt decided to seek further knowledge on filmmaking, this led him to apply to two universities ‘AFDA’ and University of Cape Town (ACT) which are both situated in Cape Town, South Africa.

“I knew I wanted to school so that I could fully grasp the knowledge on filmmaking but I did not know how I would pay for the tuition fees. I got In at AFDA, but I still had no means to pay for the tuition fees,” he narrates.

In a random yet delightful way, a few days after he was accepted at AFDA, he received an email that informed him of an opportunity to get scholarship at the very same university, he was only conditioned to write a motivational letter that would persuade the scholarship givers to give you a chance and Walt wrote a letter that moved their hearts.

“I recall it was letter answering the question ‘what is leadership’. As I was responding to that question, I self-doubted myself ‘I am not going to get this scholarship but let me write it anyway’ which I did. A few days afterwards, I got an international call while I was at Mlimani City Mall, preparing myself to watch a movie in a theatre. When the voice on the other end said ‘you got the scholarship’ my heart happily sang!” he details.

Being his very first theoretical and practical experience at filmmaking, Walt felt it was surreal and a blessing. For three years that he studied at AFDA, he did not pay the tuition fees.

“Film making for me has always been my understanding of people. This is because I grew up as a quite person which made me analyze a lot of things as I tried to understand them on a critical level. Being in the same room as highly experienced filmmakers made me not want to take the three years for granted. I aimed at making the best experienced and gain a lot of knowledge and that’s exactly what I did,” Walt explains.

After he finalized his studies, Walt was expecting to get employed right afterwards but the universe had set its own plan.

“I finished my university studies during the pandemic and I wanted to work in Cape Town for a while before I moved back home (Tanzania) but there were no jobs,” he details.

When he came back to Tanzania, Walt wanted to explore a different way of film making and that’s when Nafasi Art Space came to play.

Walt was looking for people with more than artistic mindset that aren’t necessarily with film but they have an ability to conceptualize a story.

He decided to start teaching about filmmaking at Nafasi.

In 2021, Nafasi Art Space conducted a film program dubbed ‘Sauti Mpya’ where Walt served as a mentor working alongside 13 people. They made three short films Mwajuma, Kete and Dogo whose concepts stemmed from experiences.

These films were put together in an anthology called ‘Ndio Ukubwa’ (that’s adulting).

In his career journey, Walt has so far directed and written seven short films. Some of them include Ndio Ukubwa, Gulf and Timela.

“I have come to understand that in Tanzania, there are a lot of untold stories that surround and relate to the people directly in terms of their experiences and relatability. It’s not that people do not want to watch these meaningful films, it’s just that they are constantly given the other side,” Walt says.

He believes that there are countless number of stories surrounding and relating to Tanzanians that can be told with a certain level of quality and not quantity.

Walt says that the filmmaking industry is not a bed made of roses. It’s embraced by opportunities that at times enhance challenges.

“I have met wealthy people who would want to fund a film but under their directive and not my vision. It’s during those times you question yourself ‘am I making this one for me or for someone self’ because the content that comes as a result of that relationship’ will paint a picture of how you truly work,” he explains.

Walt advises aspiring filmmakers to first understand themselves before making a film, because you are the film before you even make it; your life experiences, your beliefs and perspective on life and things

“There is always a level of relatability that exists between the filmmaker and the film in place. Understanding yourself and your background will make you the best storyteller since you will able to make the audience see the story through your eyes and your vision in a way that they will easily grasp the message behind your work, he explains.