Story Club Malawi continues its works of propelling the creative industry in the country with the latest move being that it has entered into a partnership with Women Film makers of Zimbabwe.
Story Club Malawi Founder Shadreck Chikoti said Wednesday that they were excited to partner the Women Filmmakers of Zimbabwe and that they will have a mini film festival in Lilongwe on Saturday and Mzuzu on Sunday.
“This is a positive move for the country and for the Story Club Malawi, these regional networks cannot be overlooked and we have for so long looked forward to these kinds of partnership. We are excited to be hosts to this event and we are looking forward to more interactions,” said Chikoti, a renowned writer and Peer Gynt Award winner.
He said the Story Club Malawi has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) and that through this platform they have engaged several artists including award winning actress Joyce Mhango Chavula, who is one of the coordinators.
Chikoti said Women Film makers of Zimbabwe is Zimbabwe’s leading women film makers’ organisation, and the oldest functioning film institution.
“It is an arts organisation registered with the National Arts Council of Zimbabwe. It is a non profit audio visual organisation and runs the International Images Film Festival for Women,” said Chikoti.
He said their partnership was for a common goal of harnessing the potential of the arts and culture for gender equity and the advancement of women’s rights.
The writer said the two associations will work to fulfill several objectives among others influencing new and current generations of filmmakers to create films that represent African women in their full diversities.
He also said the partnership is aimed at advocating for broader representation of African women in film at local, national, regional and international levels.
He said the mini festival they are hosting in Lilongwe and Mzuzu is part of the International Film Festival for Women.
The International Images Film Festival for Women (IIFF) was founded in 2002 and focuses on films that portray a woman in at least one major role, thus providing role modeling for women, engagement with women’s problems and lives among others.
Chikoti said the festival creates a platform for ideas, an open forum for exchange, dialogue and opinions about arts and culture and women’s issues.
Some of the movies that will be screened during the mini festival are Imbabazi the pardon, a feature film from Rwanda and Zimbabwean movie titled Two Villages Apart.
There will also be short movies Strength in Fear from Rwanda, Zimbabwean movie Karekare Zvako and a South African film Elelwani.
“Apart from the screenings, we will also have discussions and cocktails. We have a press briefing on Thursday (today), a workshop on Friday (tomorrow) and then the screenings,” said Chikoti.
He said the workshop is for producers, script writers, actors and all the stakeholders in the movie industry while the screenings which are for free are for everyone.
Mhango Chavula said the coming of the Women Film makers of Zimbabwe to Malawi should build the relationship and inspire Malawi to send films to the main festival this year.
“As an industry we can take advantage of this as a great networking opportunity,” said the creator of No More Tears and Lilongwe.
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