10th Zanzibar International Film Festival

“Celebration of Waters and Dreams” was the theme chosen for the 10th edition of the Zanzibar International Film Festival (ZIFF), known also as Festival of the Dhow Countries. Despite economic difficulties, the organization introduced for the first time “The Festival of Festivals”, in which other international festival films were showcased, exploring both diversity and shared themes. It was also the inaugural year for a film market, “Soko-Filam”, along with the “Slave Route” program, among other fresh ideas. The festival’s main venue is Old Fort, in Stone Town, a charming 18th century open-air amphitheatre, built by Arabs on the site of a Portuguese chapel. The venue played host to between 100 and 150 thousand people to experience this multicultural vision of cinema — even if the screenings were only DVD projections — and also music, exhibitions and performing arts. Forty-three films were presented, divided into feature films, documentaries, shorts and animation. Ju Ju Factory, from Balufu Bakupa-Kanyinda, won the Golden Dhow, while Infinite Justice, directed by Pakistani director Jamil Dehlavi (the 2000 winner of Ziff) was awarded the FIPRESCI Prize.