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Zimbabwe International Film Festival - 2010 Programme Catalogue
Zimbabwe International Film Festival Trust
August - September 2010

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Word from the Trust

That time of the year has come once again sooner rather than later, and it is with great pleasure that we welcome you all to the 13th edition of the Zimbabwe International Film Festival, unquestionably the biggest film event in the country.

This year we have just over 20 participating countries, with most films coming through the embassies but a considerable number coming from independent from makers from across the world. For the very first time we have participation from the embassies of Palestine and Greece. Additionally after several years of not participating the Italian and Russian embassy will be part of ZIFF 2010. We have the continued support from the embassies of Brazil, the Netherlands, Spain, Indian, Iran, Portugal and the Indonesia who are providing the opening film. With the support of our many participating embassies and partner organisations who have given so generously of themselves, this year's ten day cinema exposé will screen 26 feature films, 18 shorts and 27 documentaries in various venues.

One of the biggest changes for ZIFF 2010 is the change of venue to the Sterkinekor theatre in the city centre. This was necessitated by the closing down of the Vistarama and Elite 100 cinemas in Avondale.

While our initial was one of panic, we have since realised this to be a blessing in disguise as the festival will be able to attract a much larger and more diverse audience than it has in the past as there were obviously many people who just would not have gone all the way to Avondale to watch films. This move gives us an opportunity to expand our audience base. To this end we will also be screening films in Highfield community centres for the first time.

The Zimbabwe Retrospective of some of our countries feature films from yesteryear is making sure that there continues to be a Zimbabwean presence. While there were a considerable number of Zimbabwean productions in all the categories', this will also bring us back to the glory days of Zim film.

ZIFF 2010 is proud to be part of a special film festival tour taking part in 10 African film festivals. In 2010 and 2011, the Hubert Bals Fund (HBF) and the Jan Vrijman Fund (JVF) have joined forces in organizing a special film festival through Africa, taking over 10 HBF and JVF supported films across Africa. The HBF and the JVF support remarkable fiction and documentary films by talented filmmakers from Africa, Asia, Latin America, the Middle east and Eastern Europe. The HBF is part of the Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) and the JVF is an initiative of the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA). The Cinema

Mondial Tour will bring both fiction and documentaries supported by the two funds to film festivals throughout Africa. With this special tour, the funds hope to contribute to the visibility of these films in Africa. The films have already been to festivals in Cameroon, Rwanda, Tanzania and South Africa. Zimbabwe will be the fifth country on the tour, which will then proceed to festivals in Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia, Senegal, Benin, Burkina Faso and finally end up in Ghana in early 2011.

The USA embassy through their Public Affairs office will be showcasing a series of documentaries depicting the real America that we do not ordinarily see on the Hollywood screens. Included in this series is the film A Bronx Princess about a young girl called Rocky Otoo, the Bronx born college daughter of Ghanaian parents as she tries to reconcile her dual legacies. Rocky Otoo the star of this documentary will be in Zimbabwe with the film for question and answer sessions about her experiences.

Also represented the series and conducting various film workshops is MK Assante, an award winning author, filmmaker and professor of film and creative writing at Morgan State University. This extraordinary, Zimbabwean born 28 year old, has previously been to Kenya and Uganda on the same programme. He will be screening some of his films as well as conducting workshops on documentary filmmaking and creative writing.

The festival could not take place year after year without the continued support of the Zimbabwe diplomatic corps represented by their embassies and their staff who have consistently supplied us with films and guests throughout the years. We thank you for this continued support as we also thank all of our other sponsors including corporate Zimbabwe who despite enduring so much economic upheaval continue to give to the Trust and its programmes in various proportions.

And once again we thank you the audience for being our true supporters and dedicating ten days of your year to us.

Thank you and enjoy the Spotlight on Film!

Nakai Matema
On behalf of the Board of Trustees and Staff

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