Zanzibar International Film Festival (ZIFF)

June 29 - July 14 (Tanzania)

The 4th annual Festival of the Dhow Countries (ZIFF) came to a close last
Saturday on the spice-scented island of Zanzibar with top trophy, the Golden
Dhow for Best Feature film, handed to Sandstorm,
by Indian director Jagmohan Mundhra and second place Silver Dhow awarded to the
Iranian film Whispers, by Farzad Jodat.

The two week festival is East Africa's largest cultural event, celebrating
the cultures and arts of the African Continent, Gulf States, Iran, India,
Pakistan and islands of the Indian Ocean with features of film and video, music,
dance, theatre and performing arts. The ZIFF program included special sections
such as 'Mama Africa,' which presented six films from Burkina Faso, Namibia,
Nigeria, South Africa, Tunisia, and Zimbabwe; 'Scenarios from the Sahel,' a
series of seven short films inspired by children; animation; and several
documentaries, including three from Sorious Samura, a journalist in Sierra Leone
who risked his life to document his country's civil war: Cry Freetown,
Exodus, and Walking on Ashes.

The award-winning films, as well as most of the films on the festival's
program, seemed to share a general common theme: the struggle for freedom and
equality in a world increasingly torn between modernity and tradition. The top
winner of the Golden Dhow for Best Feature film, Sandstorm
by Indian director Jagmohan Mundhra, is based on the true story of a rural,
low-caste woman who was gang-raped by upper-caste men after speaking out against
the tradition of child marriages. Instead of being silenced, she continued to
speak out after her rape despite a "judicial system corrupted by sexism,
chauvinism, feudalism, and political opportunism." The second place Silver Dhow
winner, the Iranian film Whispers, by Farzad Jodat, is a story about
three young siblings roaming the streets of Tehran, looking for a grown-up to
attend a traditional ceremony for the youngest. The Golden Dhow for Best Short
film went to Raja Amari's Tunisian One Evening in July, in which the
beautician, Saida, who makes up young women for their wedding night, feels
bitter about traditional arranged marriages and meets an uncertain new bride,
Mariam. The Father, an Ethiopian film by Dumisani Phakativ, won the
Silver Dhow for Best Short. Set in during the period of the Derg, The
Father tells the story of artist Alazar and his political activist friend
Jonas.

Other awards were for Best Documentary, with the Golden Dhow for A Female
Cabby in Siddi Bel-Abbes, an Algerian/Belgian coproduction by Belkacem
Hadjhadj, in which recent widow Soumicha, the only woman taxi driver in the
Algerian city, narrates the film while driving and speaks of other women
struggling for more freedom. The winner of the Silver Dhow for documentary was
the Moroccan/Belgian When Men Cry, by Yasmine Kassari, which tracks the
journey of Moroccan refugees across the Straits of Gibraltar and the life that
awaits them once they reach Spain. The People's Choice film award was presented
to Yolngu Boy, by Australian Stephen Johnson, a story of three boys who
dream of becoming Yolngu hunters and find themselves caught between the modern
world and the oldest living culture on earth. The Chairman's Choice film award
also went to an American documentary, Tee Shirt Travels by Shanta
Bloeman, which follows the journey from a local charity bin in the US to remote
fishing villages in Southern Africa, investigating the second-hand clothes
business "mitumba."

There were several Festival Jury Special Mentions, including an award of Best
Actress for Omi Baya for her role as Saida in One Evening in July.
Nous ne sommes plus mort/We Are No Longer Dead, a Rwandan/French/Belgian
production by Francois L. Woukoache received the distinctions of Best Montage
and for "allowing Africans to tell their own stories." For artistic
sophistication and courageous revelations, The Secret Safari, a South
African film by Tom Zubrycki won the honor. The Best Scenario, "mixing
imagination and reality" was for Sweet Agony by Iranian director Ali-Reza
Davudnezhad. The Maritime Memory of the Arabs, by Khal Torabully
[Mauritius/Oman/France] received special merit for its educational value and
special relevance to the Dhow culture. Finally, for its brave treatment of a
sensitive issue at home in Zanzibar, Surrender by Celine Gilbert received
recognition.

ZIFF's many exhibitions, screenings, seminars, and workshops took place
around the historic Stone Town's appropriately named House of Wonders (formerly
the Sultan's Palace). Additional festival venues were centered around The Old
Fort and the Forodhani Gardens, where the waterfront welcomes visitors to sit
amongst local traders selling freshly cooked kebabs, seafood, breads, chai and
sugar cane juice. The self-proclaimed "Arabian Nights charm," coupled with the
best and most socially relevant films from the Dhow countries ensures that the
young ZIFF festival will continue to grow and improve upon an already
outstanding event.

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