A romantic comedy about a cooking contest shot in Harare in the last days under Robert Mugabe has been released on Netflix, and Zimbabweans are basking in a rare flash of good news.

Much of the power of the film is in the light it shines on the resilience of Harare residents getting on with their lives in ways not always recognisable to the consumers of news headlines only.

The film deftly touches on class differences in urban Zimbabwe: one of Anesu's most dangerous opponents is the limousine-driving Milly Ann (Fungai Majaya) from Chisipite, one of Harare's (still very) posh northern suburbs.

Despite the real-life privations, the film's food theme does not jar three years after it was made: real life in Zimbabwe is after all not a single story.

Seeing a Zimbabwean film beside a Hollywood one on the Netflix homepage is what Zimbabwe's filmmakers need to help them claim their place on the international stage, said producer, Njagu.