Zimbabwe’s 11th annual International Images Film Festival for women issues a call-for-entries.
The festival is a seminal and much anticipated showcase of film works by and about the women of Southern Africa. The 2012 IIFF edition will be held in four different locations: Harare, Bulawayo, Gwanda and Binga and will run from November 23 to December 1 and will carry the theme, “Women Alive.”
“The theme celebrates women in transition and recognizes the positive, peace-building change that individual women can bring to their homes, communities and nations.
“The theme engages with the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goal (MDG) number 3, promoting gender equality and empowering women, in relation to all the other MDGs.
“Questions to be considered under this theme are whether the rhetoric of investing in women has been turned into real advancement of them (women) in society or just a promise that remains on paper
“Also considered is (sic) the threats from all kinds of violence from domestic to militaristic and how women overcome these threats in the home, the workplace, the public space and the world,” said Yvonne Jila, the director of the festival.
This relatively small film festival has become a significant and respected platform for expression and for airing the concerns of the women of a region that has historically been subject to extreme hardship. It’s encouraging to see this platform rise to a place of prominence.
