Berlinale Visit 2017
Berlin Film Festival offered a great meeting point for the African Film Industry
In spite of the current situation in Zimbabwe a team of three IIFF organisers managed yet another trip to the Berlin Film Festival. “Courage Against All Odds” - the main theme of the program could not have been anymore in line with the thoughts of the IIFF team that braved yet another European winter to explore the famous Berlinale. The three were International Images Film Festival founder Tsitsi Dangarembga, IIFF trainee director, Laura Ganda and Program coordinator, Karen Mukwasi. The whole festival office in Harare put in a great effort to deal with all the challenges and make the trip possible and they prevailed. As usual, the Berlinale was worth the hustle.
In spite of the current situation in Zimbabwe a team of three IIFF organisers managed yet another trip to the Berlin Film Festival. “Courage Against All Odds” - the main theme of the program could not have been anymore in line with the thoughts of the IIFF team that braved yet another European winter to explore the famous Berlinale. The three were International Images Film Festival founder Tsitsi Dangarembga, IIFF trainee director, Laura Ganda and Program coordinator, Karen Mukwasi. The whole festival office in Harare put in a great effort to deal with all the challenges and make the trip possible and they prevailed. As usual, the Berlinale was worth the hustle.
Raoul Peck's I'M NOT A NEGRO was undoubtedly one of the biggest highlight s f the film program. The film tells the story of modern race relations in America in the voice of African America author James Baldwin. It explores persona; accounts of the lives and assassination of civil rights leaders Martin Luther King Jr, Medger Evers and Malcom X. The film could not have been released at a better time in history given the current conversation surrounding race relations in the United States of America.
Despite the presence of the Africa Hub the African program was once again a disappointment. At the Berlinale the absence of authentic African narratives is a cause for concern. Hope has been however restored because of the new African platform and the increasing number of young talents present at the Berlinale talents. Look out for films from the Berlinale program at IIFF2016!