TSITSI Dangarembga, founding director of Creative Arts for Progress in Africa (Icapa) Trust, was the signatory to the memorandum of understanding (MoU) between Icapa Trust, The Pan-African Observatory for audio-visual and cinema (OPAC) and Sisters Working in Film and Television (Swift) of South Africa at a Press conference recently at the Batanai Gardens in Harare.
In a lengthy speech Dangarembga pointed out that the MoU will enable the three organisations Icapa, OPAC and Swift to pursue objectives like skills capacity building through diverse activities, film development and promotion, expansion of women-friendly films in the region and Africa and establishing a Women of Distinction Awards Ceremony.
She also said that Film was the fastest communication medium to publicise Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and in pursuing the realisation of Vision 2030.
“This signing ceremony follows meetings between Ms Souad Houssein, founding director of OPAC, Ms Zanele Mthembu, the acting programme manager of Swift and myself, in our capacities as representatives of our three organisations. These meetings took place in Harare last year, during the 2023 edition of the International Images Film Festival for Women (IIFF),” she said.
Dangarembga added that the MoU was signed in the context of rapid growth in the moving images industries globally and on the African continent.
“Noting that this growth can contribute to positive social progress, as a recent Unesco article remarked that, ‘Artists and cultural professional creative expressions can serve to foster public democratic debate, social transformation, economic development and peace-building’, even in cases where they do not purposefully seek to advance a specific cause through their work,” she noted.
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On the same occasion industrious Eresina Hwede — a creative writer, editor, playwright, poet, film producer, a scriptwriter, digital story-telling expert and trainer in digital storytelling, publishing, culture and arts consultant and also a critic — was appointed the new IIFF director. Hwede accepted the position of director with great enthusiasm and vowed to uplift, monitor and evaluate the standards and conditions of service for female filmmakers with immediate effect.
In a short acknowledgement speech, Hwede described the appointment as “a cumulative result of the numerous encounters and interactions I have had over the years with IIFF as a festival and Icapa Trust as an organisation”.
“I have been in the industry for more than 20 years and this speaks of passion, dedication, experience and networks. I come to IIFF with what I have accumulated over the years in the industry and I am bringing back what I learned from IIFF over the years. I see growth and maturity in the industry when we as artists see strengths in each other and try to harness them for the common good,” he explained.
Angeline Madyara projects co-ordinator for Icapa announced that this year’s IIFF will register remarkable growth and will run from August 23 to 31 under the theme Women in Future at various venues which include Batanai Gardens B2C, Alliance Francaise, National Gallery of Zimbabwe, Hatcliff Community Hall, Dzivarasekwa Community Hall. She added that there would be three film masterclasses which included film, music, cinema in action and script and story development.
“The music masterclass is facilitated by American multi-platform artist Osei Essed who composes music for film and stage. Spanish fiction and documentary film producer Carla Sospedra facilitates the Cinema in Action masterclass.
The third masterclass in script and story development is facilitated by Donat Keusch and Gabriele Sindler of DRK Films,” Madyara said.
Madyara added that IIFF 2024 would be complemented by outreach workshops with the intent to commemorate milestones that were achieved through the teaching and training of film in Zimbabwe.
After the signing of the MoU, prolific film producer Sylvia Vassilatos said the union was a welcome development in the promotion of women filmmakers.