Zanzibar International Film Festival (ZIFF), also known as Festival of the Dhow Countries, is an annual film festival held in Zanzibar, Tanzania and one of the largest cultural events in East Africa. ZIFF is a non-governmental organization established in 1997 to develop and promote film and other cultural industries as catalyst for the regional social and economic growth.
History
The festival is an all-arts affair, with 8 days of local and international discussion panels, workshops, 10 days of screenings of the best local and international cinema and evenings of musical concerts including a Gala each evening. All festival programs are a culmination of the realization of the capacity of film to fuse together the best of each art-form, offering a wide range of Entertainment, Educating and Networking options for world audiences.
The festival is arguably the largest multidisciplinary art and cultural festival in Africa, and continues to lead as a tourist attraction event in the region. ZIFF now gives 12 International Awards presented by 5 International Juries. It is estimated that 7000 western tourists came to Zanzibar to attend the festival and the total festival audience was in excess of 100,000 with wide appeal across race, class and religions. Its impact on the economy of Zanzibar is unquestionable.
The ZIFF festival now runs 15 programs over the 10 days that include: Film Competition Film Workshops Opening and Closing Nights Film Outreach Projections Women panorama Children panorama Village panorama Festival of Festivals Soko Film Art and Exhibition Children Film panorama UNICEF Life skills Camps Children Peace camps Difficult Dialogues Historical and Cultural Village Tours During the festival, films are shown in Stone Town in Zanzibar City, as well as rural Zanzibari villages.
Awards Golden Dhow Silver Dhow Documentary Short/Animation East Africa Talent ZIFF Jury Award UNICEF Award ZIFF Life Time Achievement Award ZIFF Chairman Award Sembene Ousmane Award Signis Award East Africa Region Talent Signis Jury Award — Commendation Verona Award
Golden Dhow winners Year Film Director Country of originRef. 1998 Maangamizi: The Ancient One Martin Mhando, Ron Mulvihill Tanzania/United States 2000 Jinnah Jamil Dehlavi Pakistan 2001 Bawandar (The Sand Storm) Jagmohan Mundhra India 2004 Maargam (The Path) Rajiv Vijay Raghavan India (in Malayalam) 2005 Khakestar-o-Khak (Earth and Ashes) Atiq Rahimi Afghanistan 2006 L'Appel Des Arenes (Wrestling Grounds) Cheikh Ndiaye Senegal/Morocco/Burkina Faso/France 2007 Juju Factory Balufu Bakupa-Kanyinda Democratic Republic of Congo 2008 Ezra Newton I. Aduaka Nigeria/France 2009 Jerusalema Ralph Ziman South Africa 2010 Themba Stefanie Sycholt South Africa 2011 The Rugged Priest Bob Nyanja Kenya 2012 Uhlanga Ndaba Ka Ngane South Africa2013GolcherehVahid Mousaia 2014Half of a Yellow Sun Biyi Bandele United States2015Wazi FM Faras Cavallo Kenya2016Watatu Nick Reding Kenya2017Noem My Skollie Daryne Joshua South Africa2018Supa Modo Likarion Wainaina Kenya/Germany2019Fatwa Mahmoud Ben Mahmoud Tunisia2021Binti Seko Shamte Tanzania2022Vuta N'Kuvute (Tug of War) Amil Shivji Tanzania2023Eonii Eddie Mzale Tanzania2024Goodbye JuliaMohamed KordofaniSudan
References
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