BANZA April 2016 Issue | Page 70

FILM IS A LANGUAGE, says Martin Mhando, the current curator and CEO of Zanzibar International Film Festival (ZIFF). Because film is about breaking narrative conventions and about diversity. The Zanzibar International Film Festival (ZIFF) is an annual film festival held in Zanzibar, Tanzania. Being the largest cultural event in East Africa, ZIFF is a non-governmental organization established in 1997 in order to develop and promote film industry as a catalyst for the regional social and economic growth. The annual multi-disciplinary cultural event is an All Arts Affair, with 8 days of local and international discussion panels, workshops, 10 days of screenings of the best local and international cinema and evenings of musical concerts, including a Gala opening and wrapping-up finale. All festival programs are to fuse together diverse artistic expressions and forms, offering a wide range of entertainment, educational platforms and networking opportunities for professionals as well as audiences from all over the world. The ZIFF’s unquestionable position as a large multi-disciplinary festival in Africa continues to lead as a tourist attraction event in the region. It is estimated that 7,000 tourists from the West came to Zanzibar to attend the festival and the total festival audience in the past years was in excess of 100,000 with wide appeal across race, class and religions. Its impact on the economy of Zanzibar is indisputable. ZIFF gives 12 International Awards presented by 5 International Juries