ZIFF brings award winning films to Mainland Tanzania

The delegation of the European Union (EU) in Tanzania in partnership with the Zanzibar International Film Festival (ZIFF) has launched an after festival themed ‘ZIFF goes Mainland’.

Apart from the EU other embassies that have joined the initiative are those of Belgium, Finland, France, Italy, Germany, Poland, Spain and Sweden.

The EU and the embassies will support screenings of films in Dar es Salaam, Dodoma, Bagamoyo and Mwanza.

European movies with focus on women behind the camera and a selection of ZIFF short movies that emerged victorious at the 24 edition of ZIFF will be screened from October 28 to November 27. 

Apart from setting itself as a barometer of culture and artistic growth in East Africa, over the years ZIFF has acted as a melting pot of cultural and cinematic exchange of ideas from all over the world.

ZIFF has always partnered with European cultural institutions and the European Union in many of its undertakings.

From supporting training workshops, sponsoring ZIFF programmes to presenting co-production opportunities, Europe has had an immense influence in the growth of the festival beyond the cinematic exchange. 

The Mainland screenings are part of the 2021 partnership between the European Unionand ZIFF, which hasalsobeen extended to the Belgian Film Festival ELLES Tournent-Dames Draaien, to support exchanges among filmmakers with women’s angle. 

The opening film of the Mainland screenings, “Binti”, by the Tanzanian director Seko Shamte, is a contemporary view of womanhood, a searing introspection into the sometimes painful world that any woman anywhere could find themselves in.

The stories of the girl child, the mother, the married woman, and the working woman are captured in the poetic journey of the woman in this film.

In the Team Europe film festival cultural diversity is represented with the support of films from the EU Member States: Belgium, Germany, Spain, France, Italy, Poland, Finland, and Sweden.

The focus of ‘the female gaze’ is reflected in all selected EU films, bringing to the public films with women behind the camera, either as director, or photography, scene, editing and many more.

Supporting actors involved in culture and establishing infrastructures that help artists strive and inspire their communities, is one of the areas of focus of the European Union in Tanzania.