Once again hosted at the Mbare Art Space in Harare, the 2024 edition of the European Film Festival Zimbabwe was a Zimbabwean cultural fiesta, with film as its centrepiece. Art installations, a jazz session with Mbare legends, and an offering of the culinary arts from a curated food stall by De Ankarra Chef served as complimentary treats to the main attraction.
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| Scenes at this year's European Film Festival Zimbabwe at the Mbare Art Space |
The beauty of the European Film Festival Zimbabwe is its willingness to share its platform with other artists and the extension of the diversity in storytelling contained in the films it showcases. This year this diversity was equally matched by the diversity of the festival's audience which consisted of dignitaries, filmmakers, creatives, and the Mbare community. With their stories on show, they embraced the festival like never before.
This year's showcase was 27 Films & Shorts: Six captivating European films, 11 African films, including six short films from Zimbabwe, and 10 short films from across Africa curated under the Filamu Shorts category as well as 4 Art21 documentary films.
As a platform, the European Film Festival Zimbabwe is more important than ever. From the peak of 14 cinemas in the 80s, Harare is now down to one. The film needs a platform more than ever, especially Zimbabwean films. The applause that greeted the showcase of this year's BIOSKOP competition winners, is a clear indication that there is a hunger for Zimbabwean stories on screen.
Officially opening this year's festival, H.E. Jobst von Kirchmann, Ambassador of the EU to Zimbabwe, made statements that recognized the necessity of such a platform for Zimbabwean films.
9 years ago, this festival began screening only European movies. While it is always exciting to create platforms where we can share more about European culture, what is so much more exciting, is supporting spaces that encourage the co-creation of culture. Fast forward to 2024, we now have a festival that screens diverse movies not only from Europe, but from all across the African continent, and not forgetting, our home-grown Zimbabwean short films. - H.E. Jobst von Kirchmann, Ambassador of the EU to Zimbabwe
As this year's festival goes beyond national boundaries in the films showcased, it is also embracing the theme by going beyond the traditional boundaries of Harare and Bulawayo. This year the European Film Festival Zimbabwe has pop-ups in Kadoma and Gweru. An expansion that answers the clarion call made by the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Sports, Recreation, Arts and Culture, Mr Nicholas Moyo, at last year's official opening of the festival.
Let it not be Bulawayo and Harare forever. When you’re doing your 9th edition, think about what other cities, what other centres, this festival can impact. - Mr Nicholas Moyo at the 2023 opening of the European Film Festival Zimbabwe
The Bioskop Short Film Competition, which is the film festival's flagship contest for aspiring and established Zimbabwean filmmakers, returned for it's 5th edition this year. The Best Narrative Award went to My Husband Joe (which stars Doc Vikela) by Derby Bheta, the Best Documentary Award was given to Dumie Manyathela's Chasing Levels, Best Cinematography went to Fat Bastard by Jonathan Samukange, while the Best Sound Award was handed to My Brother’s Keeper by Tinashe Dorobeni and Admire Zimbeva's Therapist received the Best Diaspora Narrative Award. Chiedza Mimz Rwodzi was named the Best Actor/Actress: for her role as Riki in the short film Anne.
While this year's theme "Beyond Boundaries: Empowering Women Through Film" is a noble one, it feels like more could've been done to live up to it. Women were underrepresented in the BIOSKOP short film competition nominees, and while this is certainly a product of the greater ecosystem, specific outreach could've helped. Also to our knowledge, there wasn't a workshop or facilitation program specifically targeting women filmmakers, and in the year of empowering women through film that feels like an oversight. However, there was a lot that the festival got right this year in regards to empowering women:
The entire team that managed and curated this year's festival was entirely female save for Alex Gwaze who coordinated the Gweru and Bulawayo festivals and Input Conferences. Violet Tafadzwa Senderai curated the Filamu Shorts, Roberta Wagner was festival curator, Mercy Mangwana-Nyamhunga was festival coordinator, with Nora Müller being the curator of the Mbare Art Space.
There was also a strong representation and participation of women in the side events, from the Filamu short films, to the European films and the intentional inclusion of Matamba film labs, an all female VR experience that is making a huge impact in the film sector. Furthermore the input conferences had high quality input and participation of exceptional experts and these contributions came from a gender balanced panel.
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