Ziff fights for film’s underdogs
The festival in Zanzibar’s Stone Town not only features the films of the continent and African diaspora but also helps to build the industry
The Zanzibar International Film Festival (Ziff), now in its 19th consecutive year, is a pioneer in the exposure of African film-making, and a gateway to the development of African film.
Ziff is the longest-running film festival in East Africa. Festival director Martin Mhando says: “Beginning in 1998, Ziff was born from the ashes of the collapsed film industry. In Tanzania, all the 54 cinemas in the country had collapsed between 1992 and 1996. Ziff was the only way of keeping alive the embers of cinema culture.”
Ziff combines film and music to share its platform with all art forms, and to create a relaxed and enjoyable, carnival-like environment on the island.
The vision of the festival is to motivate, inspire and empower. Eight full days of local and international discussion panels, workshops and networking develops film-making on the African continent. Through innovations such as a special category Bongo Flava award for Swahili film, the Tanzanian film industry has boomed and is possibly the second-biggest producer of film on the continent after Nigeria.
Umar Turaki, a filmmaker from Nigeria, says: “Ziff is a champion of cinematic underdogs, providing a platform for the celebration of young artists and creating opportunities for mentoring. In this way, Ziff is helping to lay the foundation for a whole generation of African storytellers to burst forth.”
Mhando says South Africa is an important cog in the African film market. “South Africa will always be the beacon of excellence and pride for many Africans.
“With its history as well as its growth it presents a market that is not available elsewhere on the continent. The amount of sales that African filmmakers have made to M-Net or the access to DSTV with its many ‘Africa Magics’ [channels], all these provide nodes of potential that other Africans on the continent can look up to and emulate.”
Ziff screens films from all over Africa and the diaspora and offers awards and prize money to the best films. Of the 490 submissions received from 32 countries, 80 were nominated, four of which were from South Africa.
Kalushi, directed by Mandla Dube, will open the Ziff 2016 festival. The feature film, which took eight years to realise tells the story of Solomon “Kalushi” Mahlangu, an Umkhonto weSizwe operative executed under the apartheid regime in 1979.
Mhando continues: “South Africa is in a unique position to galvanise support from the entire continent. We have an opportunity to connect the dots with our counterparts in the pan-African world to give voice to a new African cinema that can compete with all of the best out there.”
The previous winner of the Verona documentary award at Ziff 2013, Lesotho-born Teboho Edkins, presents his new documentary Coming of Age, focusing on the immediate environment in which the teenagers of Lesotho exist.
Teboho says: “Lesotho was never subjected to apartheid. The family structures are very healthy and with the sense of identity and dignity of the Basotho. The issues Basotho teenagers face living in the very remote high mountains, are the same as teenagers everywhere. Although poor, they live with a wonderful harmony and sense of wholeness within their communities, family and mountain landscape. This has a lot to do with Lesotho as a country and the identity of the Basotho.”
Zimbabwean-born Davison Mudzingwa’s latest film, Lost Tongue, is a story of the San in the Kalahari who are losing their language. Having grown up in poverty, Mudzingwa expresses a deep compassion towards their struggle. He says: “These struggling communities embrace a profound sense of humanity and com- munity. This forms the basis of how I perceive the African story. I believe in showcasing African wisdom and philosophy.
“My storytelling is dominated by African wisdom that solves the problems we have. I believe this is a much more effective way of presenting the African narrative and its power. In every problem, there is a solution,” Mudzingwa says.
“Every country has many histories that need to be told. It’s not enough to get just one side of the story. I believe in plurality. The more stories we have, the deeper the understanding of our continent.”
Jarryd Coetsee debuts with a film adaptation of the Can Themba play The Suit, a symbol of the effect of oppression on personal relationships.
“The different film-making voices emerging in South Africa reflect a pan-African subversion and debunking of long-held stereotypes of African countries, particularly the dangerous stereotype of Africa as one big country,” says Coetsee. “Every African country is different and each has its own enthralling and complex cultures and sub-cultures.”
The power of African stories to travel and inspire beyond the boundaries of the continent is a feature of Ziff with a strong inclusion of African diaspora filmmakers.
Karen Martinez’s film Dreams in Transit focuses on the journey of contemporary migrants. She says the theme this year, This Journey of Ours, “is exactly what my film is about: the way we as contemporary migrants travel back and forth between places. And for those of us who do: Where do we belong? Where do we call ‘home’? What is our identity?”
Filmmaker Jonathan Stein says: “It is important to promote stories that show Africans helping Africans and respect for tradition even during moments of tragedy.’’
His film, Out of the Village, story of Ebola in Ghana.
It’s not always easy for filmmakers to make it, but Leeches by Payal Sethi, which tells the controversial story of one-day brides in India, and 2015 Sembene Ousmane awardwinner Ekwa Msangi’s new feature film Farewell Meu Amor, were both crowdfunded on to the big screen.
Mhando reiterates the importance of Ziff as a conduit for emerging filmmakers: “In our diversity we find common destinies, shared histories, and we celebrate what defines us as a group and as flowers of this rich garden of peoples.
“We see Africa in all its histories for we know stories told of and about Africa are stories that reflect the living experiences of many diverse peoples of the continent.”
Films to look out for
tells a Umar Turaki (Nigeria), Salt Marie Clementine Dusabejambo (Rwanda), A Place for Myself Ekwa Msangi (Tanzania), Farewell Meu Amor Daniel Manege (Tanzania), Safari ya Gwalu Anthony Nti (Ghana), Boi Dorothy Atabong (Ghana), Sound of Tears Ng’endo Mukii (Kenya), This Migrant Business Younes Yousfi (Morocco), Let’s Rock Teboho Edkins (South Africa), Coming of Age