By Paul Owere
It was a weekend that had plenty to offer, the weeklong Zanzibar International Film Festival was coming to an end and high on the list was Jamaican American musician Shaggy’s show at the Ngome Kongwe.

The Awards night was also waiting in the corner an air of anticipation filling the air and at the distant end in Rock City was the kick off of the Serengeti Fiesta Party season.

In Zanzibar after Shaggy’s sold out concert, it was time for the awards that equally drew thousands of a sieved audience that was eager to know the award winning films.

It might not have been your usual celebrity Oscar night with blockbuster type films that rake in millions at the box office, instead, these were films from East African and other parts of Africa that were worth the awards.

This feeling was shared by a cross section of fans, film makers and the Jury at the 14th edition of the ZIFF at the Spice Islands.

The nine-day extravaganza of films, music and other forms of art showcased by what East Africa and Africa’s nascent film industry has to offer.

The mere presence of names celebrated film makers like Nick Broomfield who produced Biggie and Tupac, Nick Miller of the Constant Gardener, and Donal McCusker of the academy winning film The Hurt Locker, were all part of the cosmopolitan audience.

As they had promised that they were coming to listen to what filmmakers in East Africa have to say, they pitched in with HD film making workshops.

Attracting all the attention were films such as ‘The Rugged Priest’ by Bob Nyanja from Kenya which won the Golden Dhow Award, ‘Fambul Tok’, Sarah Terry from the US which got a nod for the Signus award.

Another Kenyan film maker who got on the podium was Kwame Nyong’O for his effort in The Legend Of Ngong hills, he was joined by Xena Bantarizah a Ugandan Canadian film maker whose film won two awards as the Best Original Score and the Chairman’s award category.

Tanzanian film makers were not left behind after Sajni Sirvastava made another second appearance in two years after her film Ray Of Hope won the Best Swahili Feature Film as the Best Actor in a Swahili film went to Jacob Stephen in Senior Bachelor.

However, as celebrated stars revel in their glory, debutant Jokate Mwegelo was the surprise package of the night and the season as she was named the Best Swahili actress an award that went to Yvone Cheryl aka Monalisa last year.

As outgoing festival director Prof Martin Mhando put it : The growing appeal as per the viewership at the annual festival whose stature continues to grow to the extent of attracting corporate sponsorship such as Tusker Malt Lager is a pointer towards greater times to come.

But even with several teething problems, the growing numbers of African film makers telling African stories is an encouragement that the industry is finally shaping up.

“We are glad that there are more African film makers who are coming on board to tell our own stories, though it doesn’t mean that we should shun our Western colleagues,” says Xena Bantarizah.

However, Xena whose film made the opening cast encourages African film producers to find the right cast and original sound track to suit the African themes.

“Though there are challenges, we should try to find the right cast to suit the theme and use our own music. Don’t put in people because of what they look like,” says Xena.

But even as the audience still might still be mulling over the nine days of the fun this year’s festival provided several ‘firsts’.

Up on the list of shockers was the mega sponsorship by Serengeti Breweries through Tusker Malt , though are still scarce on what the brewer spent, it was evident that it took off the strain from organisers.

Then came the ground breaking first time performance by Shaggy, this was the first time an artiste of his stature was performing on the Isles drawing an awesome crowd.

Mr Bombastic was not the only one that sent the shock waves on the Spice Islands, he was joined on the list by celebrated international artistes such as Zimbabwe’s Oliver Mtukudzi, Senegal’s Seydou Sesoko, Kenya’s Nyota Ndogo and poet Mrisho Mpoto .

These artistes and others such as Zanzibar’s queen Baby J, gave an account of why they suited the bill with breathtaking which left fans asking for more.

As the award night was still reverberating in the Isles and beyond, attention shifted north on the shores of Lake Victoria where the opening concert of the Serengeti Fiesta party season finally kicked off.

For the first time in the10-year history of the season, it was kicked off by an international artiste.
Mwanza aka Rock City was in black and gold as the youthful crowd poured into the CCM Kirumba Stadium for a concert they had waited for so long.

The organisers had promised to give the residents their selected local artistes , a promise they honoured as they paraded names like Barnaba, Linah , Mwasiti, Chidi Benz, Godzilla, Diamond and Prof Jay were all in hand to thrill the over 10,000 audience.

The production team for this show have to be up to the task as the sound quality was unrivalled, and therefore setting a benchmark on which they will have to operate in the days ahead.

The lead artiste Shaggy on that day took off time to visit the Sukuma museum at Bujora where he was crowned as traditional ruler; he was all smiles as he danced with Sukuma belles.

His coronation must have energized him , because according to unconfirmed reports, even after he had played over 12 songs, Shaggy 42, was still running strong and it took some begging from organisers for him to stop.
Given the effort that the artistes too put in their performances, one can’t help but wish for the final show in Dar es Salaam to come soon.

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