News from the Film Festival

  • UNICEF presents ZIFF Child Rights Award to Stefanie Sycholt at German Premiere of Themba

    South African film-maker Stefanie Sycholt's film "Themba: A Boy Called Hope" won the 2010 Zanzibar International Film Festival Child Rights Award presented every year by UNICEF.  On 1 August at the glittering German premiere of the film in Cologne, Ms Sycholt received her award from Ms Anne Luetkes, a member of the Board for UNICEF Germany and  a strong advocate for child rights in her own right.

    The Child Rights Award is presented by UNICEF Tanzania during the Zanzibar International Film Festival to the film that best exemplifies the struggle for the fulfillment of child rights in the region.  So apt for the times, “Themba” tells the story of a young South African boy's efforts to overcome adversity to fulfill his football dreams. Overcoming poverty, abandonment, HIV and other challenges, “Themba” teaches us the hope that is born out of sheer determination, commitment and resilience. The film features young South African Actor Nat Singo and former German goalkeeper Jens Lehmann in his film debut. Lehman was brought into the film by Ms Sycholt, who currently resides in Germany. Both were in South Africa during the World Cup for the timely South African premiere of the film.

  • ZIFF 2011 - 14th Festival of the Dhow Countries

    With the 2010 Festival over, we are already looking forward to 2011!

    The dates have been announced - 2 - 10 July 2011 - and the theme agreed: A Season of Visions. After some well-earned rest, the ZIFF team will be planning for the next festival, so keep checking back here for information on film submissions, sponsorship opportunities and job vacancies.

    Badaaye!

  • 2010 Winners!

    The 2010 Zanzibar International Film Festival winners have been announced!

    It was an amazing night with awards going to a wide range of fabulous films followed by a seriously good shake down in the Mambo Club!

    Click here to see the list of 2010 Winners and check out the photo gallery to see the pictures from the night.

  • Day 8 - Swahili Day and Awards Night!

    Swahili Day is a new and important addition to this year’s ZIFF. Swahili stars such as Kanumba, Mona Lisa, Haji Adam and many others will be gracing the screens of Africa House and The House of Wonders bringing us the best in East African cinema! And they'll be coming to the daily Q&A at the Seyyida at midday today!

    Awards night! And tonight is of course the night all our film makers have been waiting for. The ZIFF, SIGNIS, Verona and Ousmane Sembene juries have watched over 45 hours of film this week – and tonight the prizes will be awarded!

  • Day 7 - Friday - Festival Forum begins!

    ZIFF's  major industry event, the Festival Forum Conference kicks off today and we're delighted to have over 40 of the key players in African cinema here in Zanzibar, sharing experiences and creating links. We've also got another amazing raft of films today...hop between our three venues, Africa House, The House of Wonders and The Old Fort to see some of the best and cutting edge films coming out of Africa.  And tonight in the Mambo Club, our music venue,  is shaping up to be one of the best yet....with one of Tanzania's greatest hip hop stars Dully Sykes playing

  • Day 6 - Thursday - Workshops for East African film makers

    ZIFF believes strongly it has a responsibility to encourage and promote the next generation of East African film makers to be the best they can be.

    This year we are holding three workshops for a selected group of young filmmakers and journalists from the region.

  • Day 5 - Wednesday - Films, films & more films!

    We have a huge list of incredible films showing all day in the House of Wonders, Africa House, Palace Museum and of course the Old Fort Amphitheatre. It's Ousmane Sembene day today, so head over to the House of Wonders for films reflecting development issues.

    Check the schedule page for up to date information, or come down to the venue to see our noticeboards. You're bound to find something to suit your fancy!

    And don't forget to join the ZIFF party tonight at the Mambo Club

  • Day 4 - Tuesday - First Lady attends ZIFF

    Today ZIFF is graced with the presence of the First Lady of Zanzibar, who will be opening the Iranian Women's exhibition at the House of Wonders at 4.00pm.

    She will later introduce our main feature No Woman No Cry at the Old Fort Amphitheatre at 8.50pm.

    For updates to the programme just check our schedule page - why not print a copy! - and to see daily photos check out our photo gallery.

  • ZIFF 2010 is open to the public

    The Festival has kicked off in magical style, with some wonderful performances from Rogers Lucas, the D6 Street Boys, Kjetil Haugbro and Zanzibar poetry. With introductions from the chairman, director and special guest Joseph Abdallah Meza, the festival was officially opened with the traditional raising of the dhow sail. 

    Then came short film I Love You from Mozambique, a hilarious film about a little boy's infatuation. Finally came the film of the night - Youzzou N'Dour 'I Bring What I Love' - a magical musical documentary following the release of the controversial album 'Egypt;.

    In all it was a triumphant start to the festival, and paves the way for 10 days of film, music and arts.

    Opening photos courtesy of Peter Bennett and Joachim Guay

  • Countdown to Tamasha

    With just 3 days until the Opening Ceremony, the ZIFF offices are buzzing.

    Stages and stands are going up, soundchecks and rehearsals in full swing, and last-minute schedule changes to accomodate visiting directors. And some great news for Zanzibar residents: All Films are FREE for locals. Hakuna kiingilio!

    And whatever you do, don't miss the World Cup Final on Sunday 11th. We'll be showing the match on two massive screens, one at the Amphitheatre and one at the Mambo Club, where the party will continue long into the night.

  • The final Schedule goes online!

    We finally have a complete schedule of all the films, events and activities over the 10 day Festival. Click here for all the information you need for ZIFF 2010.

    We are also offering the Festival catalogue as a PDF download. This will give you detailed information on all the films, acts and events. A printed Catalogue will be priced at $3 from all Festival venues.

  • Opening Film! Youssou N'Dour: I Bring What I Love

    An audience sensation at film festivals worldwide, part documentary, part stirring drama I Bring What I Love takes you behind the scenes and into the world of Africa's most famous musician: Youssou N'dour.

    The film follows the release of the album Egypt which N’Dour had hoped would help promote a more tolerant face of Islam. Yet, when his fellow Senegalese reject the album, and denounce it as blasphemous, he takes this as a challenge to go deeper, to reach out to those who would attack him and to work even harder to use the storytelling impact and infectious beats of his songs to unite a divided world. The resulting portrait is not just of an incomparable musician turning his spiritual quest into art, but also that of a brave new world in which pop culture now has equal power to incite fury and invite new connections.

    The opening film of ZIFF 2010 is sponsored by SIGNIS
    More details and video trailer here

  • Film Selection

    We have updated the list of selected films for this year's festival - click here for more information. The Films page is also being updated as we receive details from the film-makers.

  • New Workshops

    ZIFF is holding three workshops with priority access for East African Filmmakers...

    In order to attend please send your name and a personal statement to accomodation@ziff.or.tz about why you wish to attend the workshop. Selected participants will have to pay their way to Zanzibar but accommodation will be provided by the festival.

  • ZIFF@COCO BEACH

    ZIFF@COCO BEACH In collaboration with the Cinetoile Project ZIFF will screen 3 films at Coco beach. 3 African films from the Cinetoile Project, now dubbed into Kiswahili, will be shown at the open-air venue for 2 nights SATURDAY 3RD AND SUNDAY 4TH.

    The films to be shown include:

    3rd July: LUMUMBA (from Haiti) and MAANGAMIZI (Tanzania)

    4th July: FROM A WHISPER (from Kenya) and MAH SAA SAH (from Cameroon)

  • ZIFF@GOETHE INSTITUTE

    ZIFF 2010 takes off in a hail of activities!
    Soon after the launch of the festival on 3rd July in Dar es salaam at the Alliance Francaise Centre, we shall begin an exciting program of Pre-festival film activities
    -
    GOETHE INSTITUTE- 5th-9th July
    Goethe Institute (Dar Es Salaam) in collaboration with ZIFF will host a ZIFF@Goethe program as a sneak preview of this year's programme. Discussion and debate will follow each screening. 

  • Festival Pass now on sale

    The 9 day ZIFF 2010 Festival Pass has now gone on sale. The pass gives you unlimited access to all the Festival films, music and venues for the 9 days. Alternatively, all events can be paid for on the day, on the door.

  • Mondriaan funds ZIFF 2010- Project Colour-Bash!

    THE PEOPLE'S AGENCY OF AMSTERDAM AND ZIFF WILL PRESENT DURING ZIFF 2010 A NEW EXHIBITION CELEBRATING INDUSTRY AND INGENUITY AMONGST AFRICAN WOMEN.

    Based of the historical role that the Wax industry has had in Africa the exhibition and Workshop will highlight the social and artistic use of the wax print in Africa.

    Come see the House of Wonders bedecked in the "Kitenge cha Uholanzi" with over 35 pieces of the most beautiful wax prints displayed by Art curator Mahelia de Randamie.

  • Film submissions now Closed - EXCEPT for Sembene Ousmane prize entries

    The Zanzibar International Film Festival NO LONGER ACCEPTS ENTRIES.

    Normally the festival accepts applications for all African films and films from the Dhow Countries region- South East Asia, the Arabian Peninsula, The Persian Gulf, Iran, Pakistan, and the Indian Ocean Islands.

  • Film on Twiga Stars at ZIFF 2010

    The Twiga Stars are not just a team. They are a family and together they fight to prove wanawake wanaweza (women are capable).

    Nisha Ligon presents an unforgettable potrait of young Tanzanian women on the move, in a raw, unfettered and poignant story.

    Presented as a Work-in Progress the film and its stars will feature at ZIFF 2010.

     

  • Sembene Ousmane Award

    The Sembene Ousmane Prize for Development Film awarded at each ZIFF edition enters it’s Third year! Again 16 films will be nominated to compete for this prestigious award that recognises the place and role of the development film in Africa. The Deadline for this competition has been extended to 15th May.

    THE COMPETITION

    Article 1: ZIFF-SEMBENE is open to all African films and Co-productions between Africans and other nationalities 

  • Launch Press Conference

    On the occasion of the Launch of the ZIFF 2010 Poster and Website, a Press Conferene will be held at the Alliance Francaise Centre, Bagamoyo Road Dar Es Salaam.

    In attendance will be the local Press, Bongo filmmakers, Sponsors and Partners of ZIFF. ZIFF will also outline this year's programme which includes an exciting array of film Premieres and world class films such as Ana's Playground (USA), Motherland (USA), Imani (Uganda), Themba (South Africa) and Ronan's Escape (Australia) all award winners.

  • ZIFF GETS ROYAL SUPPORT!

    DFI SUPPORT FROM DANISH FOUNDATION
    Denmark’s Queen Ingrid's Foundation for Humanitarian and Cultural Purposes has awarded funds to the ZIFF Children Film Panorama for the second year running, in recognition of the work done towards world cultures and development.

  • ZIFF POSTER AND WEBSITE LAUNCH WELL RECEIVED

    ZIFF's Dean Nyalusi and Laurian Kipeja were all unusually upbeat following the Press conference on Monday 22nd March.

    "We are up in most media blogs in Tanzania", Dan said excitedly, "and the morning papers in Dar Es Salaam from Habari Leo, to Majira, to Mwananchi and Citizen have all given us a plug!"