×
NewsDay

AMH is an independent media house free from political ties or outside influence. We have four newspapers: The Zimbabwe Independent, a business weekly published every Friday, The Standard, a weekly published every Sunday, and Southern and NewsDay, our daily newspapers. Each has an online edition.

Women filmmakers preach peace

News
THE International Images Film Festival for Women (IIFF) will this year focus on peace in line with the current theme of the film fete.

THE International Images Film Festival for Women (IIFF) will this year focus on peace in line with the current theme of the film fete.

Report by Silence Charumbira

The theme “Women Alive — Women of Peace” portrays the role of women in society and the ways in which they live and inspirationally rise under the most brutally repressive conditions. This year’s festival runs between August 23 and 31.

According to a statement from the organisers of the festival, the theme celebrates women’s agency in transition and recognises the positive, peace-building change that individual women can bring to their homes, communities and nations.

“These are the women who believe in a just, violence and conflict free society; women who have dedicated their lives to fighting against all forms of violence so as for them, their children and communities to stay alive,” read part of the statement.

“The theme engages with the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goal (MDG) number three, which promotes gender equality and the empowerment of women, in relation to all the other MDGs.”

Founded in 2002 by Women Filmmakers of Zimbabwe, each year features a selection of films that interrogate and celebrate the resilience of women against many odds.

According to the statement, the theme celebrates women of all ages who have dedicated their lives to become peacemakers, thereby becoming role models for their communities.

“Films in competition must have been produced from the year 2000 onwards and each film must have a woman in lead role,” said the organisers.

“Ideally the film should be witty and humorous, featuring women who are not afraid to push boundaries in their quests, women who embrace the principles of extreme leadership.”

Automatic entry is granted for 35 millimetre feature films because of the technical faults that frequently occur with DVDs. The brainchild of Tsitsi Dangarembga, IIFF was founded in 2002 by Women Filmmakers of Zimbabwe.