ZIFF unveils schedule of colourful festival

THE most prominent culture and film festival schedule in East and Central Africa is out today.

The ZIFF Festival, known as the festival of the Dhow countries, will be held in Zanzibar from June 24th to July 2nd this year.

According to Festival Director Martin Mhando, revealed the programme in his message on the ZIFF website www.ziffestival.org yesterday.

According to the ZIFF website, the festival is full of activities that indicate the growth of the film industry in the country and the quality of African films.

The film that will open the festival has not yet been named, although several films are considered to be competing for the honour.

The films include EONII from Tanzania, A Body Politic from the United States, and Married to Work from Kenya.

The schedule reveals the following special and major events.

The schedule shows that between the 25th and 27th of June, there will be a major workshop for the stakeholders of the Cultural and Creative Industries (Cultural and Creative Industries) to be sponsored by ACP-EU (Africa, Caribbean, and Pacific – European Union partnership).

This is a development institution for cooperation between African, Caribbean, and Pacific countries and the European Union (EU).

This workshop will bring 32 artists to receive capacity-building training in the creative industry.

These artists come from the countries of Burundi, Ethiopia, Kenya, Mauritius, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda to build capacity to run their institutions. Tanzanian institutions are involved, and two are from Zanzibar, namely ZIFF and Sauti za Busara.

At this festival, at least 90 films will be shown. Among them, 18 films are from Tanzania. They are films of international status.

There will be workshops to increase knowledge and expertise in the film industry. Most of the 11 workshops will be held in Stone town and will be open to artists.

If artists take these opportunities, they will develop professional skills in producing and managing various activities of the film industry in the country.

Also to brighten the festival is a special workshop for school children between the 24th and 25th of June and the 1st and 2nd of July. Students will be brought from schools to learn the basics of African values and culture using animation films made in the country.

There will also be a workshop for women and girls on childbirth and puberty that will be run by the Wajamama Foundation of Zanzibar between the 29th and 30th of June.

Also worth considering during the festival include screenings and discussions about Film Archives as well as screenings of films about the history of the Liberation of Southern African Countries in which Tanzania played a major role.

The films Pamberi ne Zimbabwe and Corridors of Freedom will be shown and discussed by academics from several universities worldwide.

The seventh major item focuses on creativity in the Tanzanian film industry; there will be video jockey performances of foreign films known locally as “Vimkandala”. The demonstrations will be held in Makunduchi, Jambiani, and Nungwi villages. The exhibition will help show how creativity can help bring international films to audiences and how they are received.

Additionally, there will be a Dhow Race the date will depend on the weather). Boat races are an identity factor of Zanzibari culture, and the festival has maintained that tradition yearly.

The theme of the 26th Festival is Finding Identity (Kujitambua).

The festival is sponsored by the Embassy of the European Union in Tanzania, the Embassy of Switzerland in Tanzania, the Cooperation and Development Agency of Germany (GIZ), and Azam Media and Azam Marine.