BY TENDAI SAUTA FILM enthusiasts are in for a treat from today as the Zimbabwe International Film Festival (ZIFF) makes a return after a two-year hiatus due to funding constraints and the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The four-day film fiesta, to be held under the theme Owning Our Story will be in both virtual and physical formats under strict COVID-19 compliance.
Tonight’s opening ceremony is set for Theatre in the Park in Harare.
ZIFF programmes manager Rudo Chakanyuka said profiling and documenting cultural heritages through film had become a global phenomenon.
“It has been an exciting two months since our launch in October 2021 and the response has been overwhelming.
“Our history lies in oral tradition and we are losing a lot because of lack of documenting and filming,” she said.
“The festival will feature heritage films such as American Gather and Joseph the Young Jamaican Doctor, who is trying to connect to his past through tracing herbal heritages.
“It will also showcase the cultural aspects of the COVID-19 pandemic through films Culture in Crisis and Botso.”
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She said the festival would have children partaking in a children’s fiesta which is meant to teach them how to tell their own stories through animation and drawing.
“Nigerian filmmaker Victory Opeyokun and Rodney Masanga will teach children drawing and animation while another guest will be doing storytelling,” Chakanyuka said.
“The workshops will cover a wide range of film aspects including a hackathon for adult filmmakers. The hackathon will showcase solutions to problems commonly found in the film industry.”
Meanwhile, ZIFF has announced five films that have been selected for screening in the Smartphone short film and the Hi Five competitions.
Some of the films to be screened under the HI Five competition include Kumbilani Ncube’s Debt Clearance and Jonathan Samukange’s Nhaka.
Viewers can watch all the festival activities and films from the ZIFF Facebook and website where they can also vote for their favourite films through the comments box.
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