The audience at Zanzibar were enraptured with a selection of great at the opening weekend of the 14th Zanzibar International Film Festival. Highlights included World Premiere’s Making the Band (Uganda/Canada) and Journey to State House (TZ), live music from African legends Oliver Mtukudzi (Tuku), Mrisho Mpoto and Jhikoman, plus the presence of the very special guest Vice President, the Hon. Seif Ali Iddi, at an exciting opening weekend for ZIFF.
The opening on Saturday night began with a ceremony at the Old Fort with local talent performing music, song and dance. After the ceremony, the audience enjoyed the opening film and premiere – Ugandan film ‘Making The Band’. This lighthearted drama follows four young woman trying to make it big in the music world with their Afro-pop band based in the most unlikely of places: Montreal, Canada. A brief power cut on the island didn’t dampened the spirit of the audience who went on to dance the night away at Mrisho Mpoto and Oliver Mtukudzi.
Tanzanian Mrisho, even joined Oliver onstage for a song much to the delight of the crowd. Javed Jafferji’s film Journey to the State House, about the life of Zanzibarian Vice President, drew a huge crowd to the Old Fort on Sunday night, who were delighted with the presence and speech by the popular Hon. Seif Ali Idd. Other films on Sunday at The Old Fort included a heart-warming documentary starring a group of local boys called The Children of Ramadan by Lovinsa Kavuma. The Festival of Festivals program began with a selection of inspiring films from Australia at the House of Wonders, followed by Bran Nue Day at The Old Fort
Community outreach is an important part of ZIFF as demonstrated by the Women and Children’s Panorama programs. ZIFF in collaboration with FHI (Family Health International) hosted a conference on June 19 in StoneTown on HIV/AWARENESS & PREVENTION. The conference attracted over 140 attendees comprised of men, women, teens and children; and was a successful public dialogue on subjects such as differences in HIV/AIDS transmission between men and women, sexual practices and conduct; as well as some spontaneous performances, often hilarious, from the audience. Other FHI workshops will be conducted in villages throughout Zanzibar, with the TTFF (Trinidad & Tobago Film Festival) docudrama'Positive & Pregnant' from June 21-25.
Festivities continue all week until 26th June, with free daytime film screenings for locals, an amazing workshop program, more great music and daily press conferences at 3pm. And let’s not forget Shaggy at the Old Fort this Friday! Karibou to Zanzibar International Film Festival.
0 comments:
Post a Comment