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Khuluma Arts Newsletter
October 01, 2003

Below is an extract of the Khuluma Arts Newsletter your source for news on the arts scene in Zimbabwe & Africa. This newsletter is distributed every month direct to your inbox. Should you be interested in receiving this monthly newsletter, kindly send an e-mail with the subject line subscribe to khulumazw@hotmail.com

Highlights in this issue:

• Winners of the Zimbabwe International Film Festival (ZIFF)
• Winners of the Zimbabwe International Film Festival (ZIFF)
• Pan African Film Festival - Call for entries
• Oliver Mtukudzi nominated for 2003 Kora All Africa Music Award
• Call for Nominations for the National Arts Merit Awards (NAMA)
• 'A man of the people' by Chinua Achebe described as Pornographic, sparks Kenyan uproar
• Tracy Chapman to perform in Angola
• Music Reviews

ZIFFT AWARDS CEREMONY TO WRAPS UP 2-WEEK FILM FESTIVAL
Harare – The 6th edition of the Zimbabwe international film festival came to an end on the 13th September 2003 at a ceremony which took place at the Harare Sheraton Poolside. Below are the winners of this year's festival.

Documentary and Short Film Category
Best Short Film - "Zvinhu Zvacho Izvi" (Zimbabwe), written by Nocks Chatiza and Directed by Marian Kunonga

Documentary Special Jury Mentions - "Facing Life, Facing Death" (South Africa) -by Ingrid Gavshon & "A Fighting Spirit" (Zimbabwe) - by Leo Phiri

Best Documentary - "A Red Ribbon Around My House" (South Africa) - by Portia Rankoane

Feature Film Category - Best Actor - Hamadoun Kassogué - "Sia, Le Reve du Python" (Burkina Faso)

Best Actress - Wendy Crewson "Perfect Pie" (Canada)

Best Art Direction - Xu Junhai "25 Kids & One Dad" (China)

Best Cinematography - Ulf Brantås "Lilja 4-Ever" (Sweden)

Best Screenplay - Wahid Hamed "His Excellency the Minister" (Egypt)

Best Director - François Dupeyron "The Officer’s Ward" (France)

Audience Choice Award - "Nowhere in Africa" (Germany)

Best Picture - "A Peck On the Cheek" (India)

For more information contact the Festival Office:
Zimbabwe International Film Festival
2 Canterbury Road, Kensington
PO Box A4, Avondale
Harare, Zimbabwe
Tel/Fax: +263 4 793 502
Email: zimfilmfest@zol.co.zw
Web: www.allzimbabwe.com/ziff

Pan African Film Festival - Call for entries
The 12th Annual Pan African Film Festival, set to take place in Los Angeles, February 5-16, 2004, is currently accepting applications for films and videos made by and/or about people of African descent. Submissions of works in progress will be accepted, however, films and videos must be completed no later than December 31, 2003.
For further info visit www.PAFF.org or email info@PAFF.org

Oliver Mtukudzi nominated for 2003 Kora Music Awards
Johannesburg - Zimbabwe's senior Superstar Oliver Mtukudzi has been nominated for a Kora Music Award in The Best Southern African Artist category for his song, Hear me Lord. Hear me Lord is taken of the 2002 album Shanda - The live soundtrack to his documentary film of the same title. The song Here me lord is originally found on his 1993 album Ziwerere mu Copenhagen. Last year Oliver Mtukudzi won the Best African Arrangement Award for his song Ndakuvara from his album, Vhunze Moto. Tuku has been nominated alongside Ringo, Jeff Maluleke, Yvonne Chaka Chaka's, Gloria Bosman, Tsepo Tshola, McCoy Mrubata and Zambia's Marsha Moyo among others. This year's Kora All Africa Music Awards will be taking place held at the Sandton Convention Center in Johannesburg, South Africa.
For the full list on nominations visit: www.koraawards.com

Call for Nominations for the National Arts Merit Awards (NAMA)
The National Arts Council of Zimbabwe (NACZ) is calling upon arts associations, organisations and individuals to nominate those artistes who have excelled and produced quality work in the year 2003 for consideration for the 3rd NAMA, which will be presented on the 14th February 2004. Nomination forms can be collected at various arts association offices and organisations or NACZ offices. The award categories include music, literary arts, dance, theatre, visual arts and film and television. Only those who are nominated will be considered for the 2003 NAMA awards. The closing date for submission of nomination forms is 30th of November 2003.
For futher information please contact the National Arts Council at natarts@zol.co.zw

"If you steal from one author it's plagiarism;
if you steal from many it's research."
- Wilson Mizner

Pornographic book sparks Kenyan row
Kenya - A book by Nigerian author Chinua Achebe has caused outrage in Kenya, where a parents' group has described it as pornographic. A Roman Catholic group, the Kenya Parents Caucus, has demanded that Mr Achebe's book, A Man of the People, and two other texts in Kiswahili be removed from the school syllabus. The group particularly objects to two sections of the book - including one in which a wealthy man boasts about his sexual prowess and displays a condom after taking a young girl to bed. The Kenya Parents Caucus is urging the ministry of education to remove the texts from its syllabus.

Mr Achebe has rejected the accusation of pornography and said the Catholic Church had previously awarded him a medal for his writing. Eyes wide shut? Mr Achebe has drawn support from the publishers and academics, who say the sex scenes are central to the book and argue the purpose of literature is to mirror life rather than set moral codes. "Should we close our eyes and pretend that these things do not happen?" asks the Managing Director of East African Publishers, Barrack Muluka. "The book warns the children that this is likely to happen to happen to them.... we are blowing the whistle in broad daylight," he says.

University lecturer Barnabas Githiora describes the Church's stance as hypocritical, saying children were more corrupted by the free flow of information from the Internet. An influential Kenyan newspaper columnist says that the call to ban the book could be linked to a new wave of political influence that the Catholic Church seems to be enjoying. Writing in the Sunday Nation, Gitau Warigi notes that President Kibaki is a member... so too is Education Minister George Saitoti and a powerful coterie of cabinet ministers. He says it is absurd for anybody to imagine Chinua Achebe being a writer with a dirty mind, adding that the Church's moral police could utilise their energies better crusading against the lewd publications that litter the newsstands and which any teenager with a few pennies to spare can snap up. With that and the necessary funds, she hopes to get on top of the healthy competition in the industry today. - www.allafrica.com

Tracy Chapman to perform in Angola.
Luanda - USA folk rock singer Tracy Chapman will perform three shows in Luanda, for the first time in November, at the invitation of "Casablanca" shows promoter, Henrique Miguel "Riquinho". The first show will take place at Tropical cinema, with the tickets valued at USD 250. The second show will be held at Karl Marx cinema, where the prices will range from USD 30, 50, 100 to 150. The third concert will be held on the occasion of the national independence day's festival to be marked on November 11th. With 5 Cds, the latest one released in 1995, entitled New Beginning, in which she received a Grammy award, and whose song "Give Me One Reason", was in 1996 on the "Top Ten" of USA. - Angola Press Agency (Luanda)

African Women - Soulful Voices from across the continent
Various Artists
Sheer Sound/ZMC
2003

African Voices is a must have album for those that love music from the mother continent - Africa. Soulful voices features 18 female vocalists from the old school and the new school. From the old school, the album features Cesaria Evora from the Cape Verde, Sally Nyolo from Cameroon and Mama Miriam Makeba from South Africa to mention but a few. And from the New School, the album features Gloria Bosman , Linda Kekana, Suthukazi Arosi from the band, Mahube and Chiwoniso Maraire from Zimbabwe. Yaye Demin from Ivory Coast's Monique Seka will remind you of Ringo's love ballard Sondela and at the same time leaving you with questions as to who does the song better than the other.
Buy the album at www.oneworld.co.za

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