SOUTH AFRICA – The Kairos 5, a thriller by Zimbabwean author-turned-filmmaker Amos Chinodakufa, has broken new ground by becoming one of the few local language productions from Zimbabwe to feature on Apple TV and Amazon Prime Video.
The milestone marks a major breakthrough for Chinodakufa, who grew up in Masvingo and has been writing stories since his pre-teen years.
He is the founder of Chinoz Productions, a company focused on producing action-adventure, sci-fi, fantasy, and epic ancient-African films and television shows, most of which will be written and directed by him.
His latest film was reportedly made with little money and only two cameras and the cast ensemble were all dedicated volunteer actors.
Chinodakufa took on multiple roles and says “I was the Writer, Director, Producer, Cinematographer, Cameraman, Sound Engineer, Editor, Foley Artist, Production Designer, and more, managing every aspect of the film.”
The Kairos 5 he said “was filmed in Johannesburg using guerrilla tactics, often shooting without permits and racing to complete scenes before we were detected and removed, inspired by James Cameron’s low-budget approach in Terminator 1.”
He admits “I edited the film over four months, and finishing by June 2025, using a basic laptop without a dedicated graphics card, which made it a painful ordeal.”
According to its synopsis, The Kairos 5 follows a group of men involved in a high-stakes heist that spirals out of control when their wealthy target unexpectedly dies in their custody, plunging them into a dangerous web of deceit.
Nine years ago, after publishing five novels, Chinodakufa put his writing career on hold to pursue filmmaking. Inspired by the superhero blockbusters he admired, he launched a crowdfunding campaign to kick-start his film journey.
“Hence it’s become pretty obvious now that if you have a story to tell, you’ve gotta tell it in High Definition, not text,” he said.
Although his first project was meant to be a superhero film, budget realities forced a change of course.
“I wanted to make an awesome superhero movie,” he explained. “But when I drafted the budget, I dropped that idea in like two seconds. It would have needed at least $100 million just for the costumes alone. So I came up with something even better instead — Extortion.”
To watch The Kairos 5 on Amazon Click Here
You can reach the filmmaker Amos Chinodakufa on [email protected]
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