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Inside/Out with Carl J. Ncube, animator and film director
Kubatana.net
February 24, 2010

Full interview with Carl Ncube - Read and listen

Describe yourself in five words?
I am just weird full stop.

What's the best piece of advice you've ever received?
That I am the best Carl Joshua Ncube in the world.

What's the most ridiculous thing you've ever done?
I went gothic so I dyed my hair pink; I had make-up on one eye and studs around my neck. I thought it was cool at the time, but I'm beginning to think otherwise now.

What is your most treasured possession?
There's an old Adidas T-shirt that I was given by a friend of mine, Chido.

What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?
There was a time when I was in England, and I was supposed to come back home, but they wouldn't renew my visa. I made two suicide attempts. Thankfully I used the wrong drug that didn't do anything but make me sick.

Do you have any strange hobbies?
I cook a lot, people find that surprising. I enjoy cooking that's my main passion.

What do you dislike most about your appearance?
My belly. But I only hate it when I have to squeeze through small spaces.

What is your greatest extravagance?
There's a time when I bleached my hair seven times in a period of two weeks and that cost a lot of money. I went for a really expensive product.

What have you got in your fridge?
My fridge in Botswana is empty because I haven't been there in a long time.

What is your greatest fear?
I'm afraid of balloons. I have a phobia of balloons. When I see kids blowing up balloons my ears block, I start to sweat and if I keep looking at the balloon, I get dizzy. I ended up thinking I'd be afraid of condoms!

What have you got in your pockets right now?
Forty cents and a pen.

What is your favourite journey?
Without a doubt going to Great Zimbabwe with the Miss Zimbabwe Contestants. It was like an American coming to Africa. I felt like kissing the ground . . . lifting a rock from there ... putting the rock in my pocket ... getting an autograph on the rock. It was so good.

Who are your heroes in real life?
Steve Jobs and Tapiwa Chinyadaza. Tapiwa is the CEO of AIT. He changed completely the way I see things. He put it into the ‘now' context in terms of simplifying things. He has an expression that goes . . . ‘not muddying the waters' . . . and it gave me a lot more structure.

When and where were you happiest?
I'm happiest now.

What's your biggest vice?
Work.

What were you like at school?
I was highly unmotivated. I was very talkative. I loved to draw. I remember I would sit in class, they would teach me stuff but I wanted to know the relevance.

What are you doing next?
I'm working on the Zimbabwe International Music Awards (ZIMA) awards.

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