Supported by the University of Bedfordshire and the Nhimbe Trust, Lovers in Time is a comedy about the legendary female spirit medium Mbuya Nehanda, who was executed by colonial rulers towards the end of the 19^th Century for leading an uprising against white settlers.

In the play she returns to life in the present day, but as a male.

The play has been selected by the Harare International Festival of the Arts (HIFA) board from hundreds of entries. It will take place during the HIFA, which runs from 29 April to 2 May 2014.

HIFA is arguably the most important sub-Saharan arts festival and is one of the largest arts festivals in the world.

Dr Piotrowska, Reader in Film Practice and Theory and Course Leader for MA and MSc Digital Film within the Department of Media Arts and Production at the University, will also make an experimental documentary film which interrogates trauma through comedy, and the issue of race relations through arts and humour.

Blessing Hungwe with Dr Agnieszka Piotrowska

Playwright Blessing Hungwe said: “I am thrilled we are making this happen. Agnieszka and I have sat on different festival juries for years and it is very pleasing that we are collaborating with each other at last.

“The subject of the play might be regarded as controversial as Mbuya Nehanda is seen as a national icon and we are creating a comedy of her coming back to the 21st century in a male body. But we are treating the subject very respectfully - in accordance with Shona tradition a spirit can arrive in a different body. It is an excuse for us to interrogate issues of embodiment and personal freedom. I also feel that a writer must be able to express their ideas freely.”

Dr Piotrowska added: “I am delighted to be working with Blessing Hungwe, whose work I have admired for a long time. I am also directing some of the most accomplished young actors in Zimbabwe on this production, such as Charmaine Mujeri and Michael K. It is an ambitious project as we are going to be dealing with some very delicate and even traumatic issues through comedy. I am truly excited and happy at this opportunity.”

Asked if she was worried about her personal safety, Dr Piotrowska said: “Not at all! I have been to Zimbabwe before and I have every confidence that all will be well. Of course there is always a small risk involved because of the subject matter but I am sure it will all be fine. It is a great opportunity and I feel very privileged.”

Dr Piotrowska's documentary film about race relations, The Engagement Party in Harare, was nominated in the Best Documentary category at the International Images Festival for Women in 2012 in Harare - the only non-African to be granted the distinction.

She is a specialist in film and psychoanalysis and her monograph Psychoanalysis and Ethics in Documentary Film has just been published by Routledge, to enthusiastic reviews.

Notes to Editors

1. To request an interview with Dr Piotrowska please contact the University of Bedfordshire’s Press Office on 01582 489178 or email patrick.day@beds.ac.uk
2. Dr Piotrowska is a specialist in film and psychoanalysis. She is a BBC trained, award winning documentary filmmaker with substantial experience in broadcast television in the UK and internationally. Since winning the Best First Film Prize at the BBC as a trainee, she has gone on to make a number of award winning films across the channels, including the flagship Channel 4's strand Cutting Edge, Discovery and the National Geographic as well as the iconic Married to the Eiffel Tower. Dr Piotrowska’s monograph Psychoanalysis and Ethics in Documentary Film is published by Routledge