The Zimbabwe International Film Festival Trust (ZIFFT) regrets to announce the cancellation of its 21st edition of the Zimbabwe International Film Festival (ZIFF) which had been scheduled to run from the 14th to 21st September under the theme “Owning Our Story”.

PRESS RELEASE
ZIFFT has been forced to take this unfortunate decision in response to the dire funding constraints resulting from the prevailing economic environment. While the Trust tried its best to curate a dynamic Zimbabwe-focused film screening and workshops programme, the inability of our corporate sponsors to support us this year has made it impossible to continue with our plans. The festival has received over 100 submissions of films in all genres both from Zimbabwe and abroad, proving that the interest in Zimbabwe’s creative industries is very high. ZIFFT does have full confidence, however, that the festival will return next year.
The theme “Owning Our Story” was intended to highlight ZIFFT’s continued focus on upgrading the image of the African creative; as they seek relevance, validation, and pride in a global space where western, and lately Asian, cultures predominate.
In the meantime, ZIFFT is progressing with its “Narratives from Zimbabwe” project, in which it is documenting Zimbabwe’s history and heritage, to create a multi-media digital archive and interactive website. So far the project has interviewed Zezuru (Chiweshe), Karanga (Gutu), and Budya (Mutoko) chiefs, and filmed the heritage sites in the respective areas. The 18-month project will cover all of Zimbabwe’s provinces and all ethnic groups.