Executive director thanks partners for supporting ZIFF2015

The Zimbabwe International Film & Festival Trust (ZIFFT)’s Founder and Executive Director Mr. Nigel Munyati, extended gratitude to all its partners for making the 17th Edition of the Zimbabwe International Film Festival (ZIFF2015), themed “Documation, possible at a time when the country is facing enormous economic challenges.
Speaking at the screening of Opening Night film, ‘Timbuktu’, on Saturday, Munyati acknowledged the support of ZIFFT’s various partners. “ZIFFT is eternally grateful for the unwavering support of the diplomatic and donor communities, corporate sponsors; service providers, employees, temporary staff, and volunteers.”
“This year’s Festival is a much smaller affair, this being necessitated by seriously limited financial resources available. Paucity has however motivated personal and institutional creativity to inspire the embassies of France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Britain, Sweden, and Denmark to host ‘National Days’ featuring films from their countries,” he said.
Munyati also emphasized ZIFFT’s mandate: “Our mandate is to drive the development of film in Zimbabwe; which we execute through our key programmes: Zimbabwe International Film Festival (ZIFF) and ZIFFTours, Short Film Project (SFP), Outreach2Educate (o2e), and Film Forum (FF). In our 18 years of existence, ZIFFT has grown to become a leading film development institution; while ZIFF is now a premier film festival in Africa,” he said.
The Opening at Ster-Kinekor Theatres in Borrowdale on 3 October, was a full house. The diverse audience included, in Addition to the host the French Ambassador Mr. Laurent Delahousse, Cuban Ambassador Mr. Elio Savon Oliva, the British Ambassador Ms Catriona Laing, the Alliance Francaise’s Director Mr. Franck Chabasseur and the British Council Director, Samantha Harvey. Also in attendance was, former Miss Bulawayo 1998 and Superface (Zimbabwe) 1999, Marilyn Ngubane and her husband Mqondisi a.k.a MQ, an award winning advertising Creative Director .