Drive-in movie van a hit in rural Africa

The villages often lack recreational activities, according to Liao Lanfang, CEO of Top-Star, the Zambian branch of StarTimes. Many of the villagers do not have a television at home and some of the more remote villages have no electricity.

Therefore, the arrival of the mobile film van, equipped with a large LED screen, lifting gear and a backup power source, often garnered great interest.

"The van was surrounded by children when we entered Makuluku, a village near Kabwe. They ran after the van and started dancing following the roadshow music," says Wang Qian, a StarTimes employee who took part in the screenings in Zambia.

Last July, Wang and three of her colleagues visited 12 villages and suburbs surrounding the Zambian cities of Lusaka, Kabwe, Ndola and Kitwe to do screenings of domestic hit movies like Monster Hunt, SPL 2: A Time for Consequences and Finding Mr Right 2. Wang was deeply impressed by the eagerness of the audience to learn more about the outside world. In Zambia, there are only four cinemas and approximately 3 million television sets in the entire country, according to Liao.

"We needed to at least provide them exposure to this kind of entertainment. This is what the people of Zambia need," one of the local staff members says.

Since there are more than 70 dialects spoken there, the team relied largely on the local staff to translate and help communicate with the local audiences.

"Once, when the van got stuck in the mud, the local villagers and staff members helped push it out," Wang says.

The projections were usually held between 10 am and 7 pm. Children made up the majority of the audience members during the daytime while their parents were at work.

Faustina Sikaando, principal of a primary school in Twalubuka near Ndola, thinks that movies helped to broaden the children's horizons.