Kenya wins big at Zanzibar International Film Festival

Kenya bagged four awards at the Zanzibar International Film Festival.

The annual Zanzibar International Film Festival (ZIFF) is one of East Africa’s largest cultural festivals. Also known as Festival of the Dhow Countries, the festival aims to develop and promote film and other cultural industries as catalyst for the region’s social and economic growth. The festival is an all-arts affair 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 each evening.

In the just concluded festival, Kenya shone bright, bagging four awards. Actor Melvin Alusa bagged the Best Lead Actor for his role in the movie Mission To Rescue, Softie the movie won Best Documentary, If Objects Could Speak. won the Special Award category and Mission To Rescue won Best East African Film. Expressing his joy about receiving the award, Melvin said: “Mission to rescue, best feature film and I was awarded the Best actor award AT ZIFF. God, I give thanks and praise to you. Its a feeling like no other.”

Softie, is a film that tells of Bonniface Mwangi’s activism. The film has been nominated in several international awards including the Peabody Award. If Objects Could Speak follows the journery of two fillmmakers who take a Kenyan artifact from a German museum, produce a 3D scan and embark on a journey back to its roots. Mission to rescue is a film that revolves around the real-life story of a French woman who was kidnapped by the Al-Shabaab, and how the Kenya Special Operations Forces embarked on rescuing her.

ZIFF now gives 12 International Awards presented by 5 International Juries. It is estimated that 7000 western tourists flock to Zanzibar every year.

The post Kenya wins big at Zanzibar International Film Festival appeared first on KBC.