IIFF, ZIFFT in strategic cinematic collaboration joint festival

zwnews.com Reporter- Lovemore Lubinda

The two prominent organisations in the Zimbabwe film industry, International Images Film Festival for Women (IIFF), the flagship event of Women Filmmakers of Zimbabwe (WFOZ); and the Zimbabwe International Film & Festival Trust (ZIFFT) will host a joint festival this year.

The festival will take place from 26 August to 2 September 2017.

The organisers have said IIFF will present its 16th edition of the festival in collaboration with the 19th edition of the Zimbabwe International Film Festival (ZIFF) where they will both bring the magic of cinema to audiences, workshops and panel discussions to the practitioners.

“In presenting this strategic cinematic collaboration, IIFF and ZIFF are taking this progressive step to facilitate cohesive and sustainable growth in the film sector. The resultant synergy will offer the most diverse Festival for audiences as the two combine their strengths to create a platform for excellence in film, advocacy, value addition, and engagement among the various stakeholders,” said the organisers in a joint press release.

IIFF programs are held in schools, communities, national and international outreaches. National outreaches take place in Binga, Bulawayo, Gwanda and Chipinge. International outreaches are held in Kenya, Uganda, Malawi, South Africa and Somalia.

In 2016 IIFF, for the first time, hosted the African Women Filmmakers Hub, a pan African women film makers’ production platform. IIFF has also regularly held training workshops that provide an opportunity for women filmmakers to find their voices and which also train local filmmakers in all aspects of the craft of filmmaking.

WFOZ is the women’s department of the Institute of Creative Arts for Progress in Africa (ICAPA) Trust. It has produced and co-produced some of Zimbabwe’s finest films, including ‘Kare Kare Zvako’, which won international prizes and featured at Sundance, as well as ‘Peretera Maneta’ which won continental prizes.

ZIFF is the flagship programme of the Zimbabwe International Film and Festival Trust. Themed ‘Progressive, Forward-thinking, Dynamic, Creative, Relevant, and African’; it is a premier annual festival that showcases the best in film from Zimbabwe and the world; with a national outreach around Zimbabwe, including Bulawayo, Mutare, Norton and Chitungwiza.

“The Festival also incorporates the Trust’s other programmes: the Film Forum (FF), which forms the industry programme; Outreach2Educate (o2e), which screens films and hosts workshops in disadvantaged and grassroots communities; and the Short Film Project (SFP), which produces quality short films by mentoring emerging filmmakers to make their first film, thereby kick-starting their careers,” read part of the statement.

Both organisations say are excited to be coming together to present an enthralling programme that celebrates film to a diverse audience, as they continue to raise the profile of the sector in Zimbabwe on an international stage.