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FLAME by Ingrid Sinclair

Zimbabwe/ France 1996, 90 Min., Color, 4:3, 35 mm, English version subtitled in German
Synopsis
One of the first critical feature films about the liberation war in Zimbabwe which ended in 1980 with the Declaration of Independence and the fall of Ian Smith's Rhodesian government. Two young women, who have left their homes 15 years earlier to fight in the guerrilla struggle, meet by chance at Heroes' Day in Harare. In retrospect, the cruelty of the bush war, the violence of the fighting, deprivation during escape to neighbouring Mozambique and the sexism of male comrades from the perspective of the present described from the perspective of the present day in which unemployment is still a reality, where the end of apartheid is not synonymous with the end of the oppression of women.
Ingrid Sinclair
Born in 1948 in the UK. Studied Medicine and English Literature in England and Film Production in South Africa. Moved to Zimbabwe in 1988. Since 1981 has made documentary and feature films.
„Flame“/ Festivals and Awards
More than 30 international film festivals such as Cannes, London, Amiens and 14 awards, including Prix du Public - Best Film and Palmares du Jury - Best Actress und OCIC Award - Best Film in Amiens.

NORA by David Hinton und Alla Kovgan

USA/ UK/ Mozambique 2008, 35 min., color, 16:9, HDCam (screening by DVCam), original version subtitled in French
Synopsis
The film is based on experiences and memories of the dancer Nora Chipaumire, born in Zimbabwe in 1965, following her on a journey to the landscape and the places of her childhood. With the changing locations, topics also range from private family fate to the general struggle against oppression and violence. Dance is Nora’s means of expression, accompanied by local performers and music composed especially for the film by the legendary Thomas Mapfumo.
David Hinton
Director of documentaries and dance films. Film portraits of Francis Bacon, Bernado Bertolucci and many more for the BBC. Cooperation with various choreographers, such as Karole Armitage, dance groups such as the Alvin Ailey Company and DV8 Physical Theatre.
Alla Kovgan
Director of documentaries, born in Moscow, lives in Boston. Presentations at international film festivals including Sundance, Rotterdam, Toronto, Oberhausen, and museums such as MOMA, the Louvre, Centre Pompidou and television broadcast on PBS (USA), ZDF etc.
Nora Chipaumire
Born in Mutare, Zimbabwe. Lives since 1989 in the United States. Law degree from the University of Harare, Zimbabwe. Winner of the New York Dance and Performance Award in 2007 and 2008, Mariam Mcglone Choreographer Award 2007.
„Nora“ / Festivals and Awards
More than 80 international festivals such as Oberhausen, Rotterdam, Clermont-Ferrand. 23 international awards and prizes.

ZIMBABWE COUNTDOWN by Michael Raeburn

France/ Zimbabwe 2003, 60 min., b&w / color, 4:3, video / 16 mm (screening by DVD)
Synopsis
A highly personal documentary by the director about the decline of Zimbabwe under Robert Mugabe, the hero and political hope of his youth. Growing up in Zimbabwe in the 50s and the 60s and politically active with different groups, Michael Raeburn still has good contacts with people who took part in the liberation struggle and are politically active today. Representatives of ZANU PF – the ruling party – as well as Morgan Tsvangirai of the MDC, then the opposition party, and “Hitler” Hunzvi of the War Veteran’s Association, a driving force behind the farm occupations from 2000, speak in the film. It also shows the consequences of Mugabe’s propaganda: images of paramilitary marches and bloody excesses in the business center of Harare. "Zimbabwe Countdown" was filmed between 2000 and 2003 in reference to Raeburn's first film, "Rhodesia Countdown" (1969), a sarcastic and critical reckoning with the regime of Ian Smith, who then forced him to leave the country. In 1980 Raeburn returned. The reaction to "Zimbabwe Countdown" forced him to emigrate a second time.
Michael Raeburn
(s. „The Grass is Singing“)
„Zimbabwe Countdwon“ / Festivals and Awards
2003 First Prize, African Film Festival Mailand; International Jury Award Cape Town, World Cinema Festival; Beyond Borders Prize, Life Tracks Festival; Clermont-Ferrand; Prix Italia, Festival Cantania, Sicily.

DER TUNNEL by Jenna Bass

South Africa 2009, 25 min., color, 16:9, HDCam (Screening by DVD), original version subtitled in English
Synopsis
A few years after independence in Zimbabwe, a faction of the national army known as the Fifth Brigade began to persecute and murder members of a splinter group of the ZIPRA forces, followers of the rival party, and other members of the Ndebele minority ethnic group. This ethnic cleansing in Matabeleland, southern Zimbabwe, was named “Gukurahundi” by the leading party and the country’s president, meaning “the rain that washes away the chaff before the coming of spring”. "The Tunnel" is set in this period and observes Elizabeth, a young girl and passionate storyteller, in a guerrilla camp in search of her father. There, she talks about how he dug a rescue tunnel from his village to the city, connecting history and story.
Jenna Bass
Born in 1986 in London, lives in South Africa. Studied at the AFDA film school in Cape Town. Works as a director, writer, cinematographer and photographer. Has so far made ten short films of her own. Two films are in preparation.
„The Tunnel“ / Festivals and Awards
2010 Berlinale, Sundance

THE GRASS IS SINGING by Michael Raeburn

Sweden/ Zambia 1981, 100 min., color, 4:3, 35 mm (Screening by DVD)
Synopsis
Feature film based on Doris Lessing's novel about a farmer couple in the colonial Zimbabwe (then Southern Rhodesia) of the 30's. Rural poverty, latent and open racism, bigotry and sexism are the topics that will be told through Dick and Mary Turner, and their attempts to make a farm work in the face of climatic and social adversity, being pulled down in the end by their own individual character and past.
Michael Raeburn
Born in Cairo and raised in Zimbabwe. Honours Degree at the Zimbabwe and London University. PhD at the University of Aix-en-Provence and at the Institute des Hautes Études Cinématographiques. Director and producer of more than 20 documentary and feature films. Author of Black Fire, a book based on interviews with Zimbabwean freedom fighters, and Night of the Fireflies, a novel about the war-traumatized Maputo-80s.

KARE KARE ZVAKO - MOTHER'S DAY by Tsitsi Dangarembga

Zimbabwe 2005, 30 min., color, 16:9, 35 mm, Shona subtitled in English
Synopsis
A critical and yet humorous short film on African chauvinism and unequal gender roles in traditional family life. As in her novels, the director switches between modern and traditional narrative forms, between reality, dream and myth, between drama and dance theatre. “Kare Kare Zvako - Mother's Day” is based on an old folk tale about a young impoverished rural family, which through the selfishness and laziness of the male head of household face starvation. In their distress the mother gathers insects for the children to eat, forbidding her husband to join in the meal until he meets his family responsibilities. The short film is the first of a planned trilogy.
Tsitsi Dangarembga
Tsitsi Dangarembga born in 1959 in Mutoko, Zimbabwe, lives in Harare. Author, film producer and director. She studied medicine at Cambridge, Psychology at the University of Zimbabwe, and Film Directing at the German Film and Television Academy in Berlin. Novels, short stories, screenplays: “Nervous conditions”, “Neria”, “Bira - Stopping the Time”. Documentary and short and feature film: “Passport to Kill”, “Everyone's Child”, “The Puppeteer”, “High Hopes”, “Growing Stronger”.
„Kare Kare Zvako - Mother's Day“ / Festivals and Awards
International festivals including Sundance, Seoul, Sao Paolo. Golden Dhow Zanzibar, Cinema Africano Milano Short Film Award, Short Film Award ZIFF Zimbabwe.

HARD EARTH – LAND RIGHTS IN ZIMBABWE by Mukundwa Francis Zvoma

Zimbabwe 2001, 54 min., color, 4:3, DV / Beta SP (screening by DVD), original version subtitled in German
Synopsis
In this documentary, farm owners and farm occupiers, war veterans and historians describe their different views on the land question and its historical and cultural background. The land question, like many other open questions from the colonial period, remained unchanged in 1980 with the accession of Mugabe owing to his fear of an exodus of the white elite and their much-needed skills. The question became crucial when, at the end of the 90s, the veterans demanded payouts and compensation from the government for the liberation war. 2000 began with violent farm occupations. These were legitimated historically, but especially through the idea of an ancient cultural right. The soil has multiple references in African culture; it is existentially symbolic and thus has a profound political dimension.
Mukundwa Francis Zvoma
Film director and producer, lives in Harare. Cooperation with Tsitsi Dangarembga and Olaf Koschke.
„Hard Eearth - Land Rights in Zimbabwe “ / Festivals and Awards
Pan African Film International Filmfestvals and Arts Festival (PAFF), Los Angeles, Thessaloniki Documentary Film Festival, Mostra de Cinema Africa Barcelona.

TRIOMF by Michael Raeburn

South Africa 2008, 100 Min., color, 16:9, HDCam (screening by DVD)
Synopsis
A feature film based on the grotesque novel by Marlene van Niekerk about a poor white family in a rundown neighbourhood in Johannesburg. The neighbourhood, neighbours and customers of Treppie's refrigerator workshop change and thus reflect in miniature the great political and social change in South Africa of the 90s. The end of apartheid and the beginning of a new era, told from the often absurd-grotesque vision of a lower class family in Johannesburg.
Michael Raeburn
(s. „The Grass is Singing“)
„Triomf“ / Festivals and Awards
International Cannes Film Festival, Pusan International Film Festival, New York African Film Festival, Best South African Film Award Durban, South Africa; Best Actor (Lionel Newton) Tarifa Spain.

AFRIQUES: COMMENT ÇA VA AVEC LA DOULEUR? by Raymond Depardon

France, 1996, 165 min., color, 3:2, 35 mm, French version subtitled in German
Synopsis
“How to film pain without exploiting it?” is one of the questions asked by Raymond Depardon as, alone, armed only with a film camera and microphone, he travels through different African countries from 1993-1996. Observation is accompanied by introspection, new perceptions are confronted with pre-conceived ideas, and 360 degree panoramic shots are followed by uninterrupted sequences. Images of the unspectacular versus the journalism of catastrophe. Accuracy, concentration at all moments. Each second of film is a second of life. But ‘Comme ça va avec la douleur ' is also a simple way to say ‘hello’ in French-speaking Africa.
Raymond Depardon
Born in 1942 in Villefranche-sur-Saône. Trained as a photographer, photographed for the Dalmas Agency, and later for Magnum. International Exhibitions, 1991 Grand Prix National de La Photographie. From 1963 documentary about Venezuela, Israel, Chad, Yemen, Reporter, John Lennon and Jan Palach. 1981 foundation of his production company Double D Copyright Films.
„Afriques: Comme ça va avec la douleur?“ / Festivals and Awards
Visions du Réel Nyon, DocFest Munich.

JIT by Micheal Raeburn

Zimbabwe 1991, 90 min., color, 3:2, 35 mm (screening by DVD)
Synopsis
A music, gangster and love story set in Harare in the optimistic late 80s. A boy named UK is doing everything to make an impression on Sofi and to win her over. Sofi, however, is guarded over by her jealous gangster boyfriend, while UK is constantly hindered by Jukwa, an ancestral spirit. UK lives with and works for his uncle, played by legendary musician Oliver Mtukudzi, who provides the musical score for the film, together with the Bhundu Boys, Ilanga and Comrade Chix. Jit, the title, goes back to the Zimbabwean music style "Jit Jive", which in turn is derived from the two Shona words "Jiti" and "jikiti. But JIT also stands for “just in time” - how UK delivers the agreed bride price to Sofi’s father.
Michael Raeburn
(s. „The Grass is Singing“)
„Jit“ / Festivals and Awards
New Directors Award New York 1993, Best Cinematography Award Ouagadougou, Best Actor (Dominic Makuvachuma) Amiens.

I AM THE RAPE by Heeten Bhagat

Zimbabwe, 2006, 4 min., color, 16:9, HDV (screening by DVD)
Synopsis
"I am the Rape" is a cinematic interpretation of the eponymous poem by Dambudzo Marechera (1952-1987), one of Zimbabwe’s important and influential poets. With the poem Marechera responded to the racist violence of police action during a 1979 meeting of the National Party Bhagat's film interprets the poem with audiovisual aids and supplements it with staged and documentary images of the traumatic biography of the author and the presence of Zimbabwe.
Heeten Bhagat
Born in 1969 in Zimbabwe. Studied design and audiovisual production in London. Active inter alia as a film coordinator for the Zimbabwe International Film Festival, exhibition curator for the National Gallery in Harare, project manager of the Anno's Africa Arts Project in Nairobi, founder of Masalamedia production company. Since 1999 has been producing his own experimental and documentary films such as "5ive times", "roast - leni style" "Heads & Tales," "From Zimbabwe to Santa Fe" (in production).
„I am the Rape“ / Festivals and Awards
International film festivals such as Dockanema Maputo, Mozambique.

RECONCILIATION IN ZIMBABWE by Mark Kaplan

Zimbabwe, 1990, 30 min., color, 4:3, Beta (screening by DVD)
Synopsis
A public reappraisal of war atrocities and apartheid crimes, akin to the 1996 Truth and Reconciliation Commission in South Africa under Nelson Mandela, has not happened in Zimbabwe yet. The dark side of an officially heroic liberation struggle and the dark side Ian Smith's regime, still glorified by many, are taboo topics that have no public forum. Suppressed, this part of the Zimbabwean story continues to work its traumatic effect and to be manipulated and exploited at will. Mark Kaplan's documentary allows war veterans, white farmers and other witnesses of the war and its impact on reconciliation to speak. The film was made in 1990, ten years after the war. Today, 30 years later, the same questions are still there, but their answers seem further away than ever.
Mark Kaplan
Born in 1953 in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, grew up in South Africa. Studied of the Visual Arts in Cape Town and at MIT Cambridge USA. Since 1979 has worked as a film director and producer. Since 1980 Head of Training in video production companies and video such as Capricorn in Harare and Grey Matter Media in Cape Town. Arrested in 1981 for political activities against apartheid, expelled in 1982. Returned to Zimbabwe in 1985, and in 1991 to South Africa. Documentaries on political subjects such as "The Invincibles", "Maduna Road," "The Highgate Massacre," "Betrayal," "Between Joyce and Remembrance," "When War is Over," "The Road to Reconciliation".
„Reconciliation in Zimbabwe“ / Festivals and Awards
International festivals such as South African Film Festival.

IN THE UPPER ROOM by Céline Gilbert

Zimbabwe, 1999, 35 min., color, 4:3, DV (screening by DVD)
Synopsis
A feature film which looks at Zimbabwe from the future. In 2020, after the death of the President, a video journalist researching about his life gets hold of a list of people that were killed by the government, including the protagonist Dora Plath. In her spare time, she had painted a portrait of the President, which was bought by a businessman friend, who gave it to the President as a birthday present without her knowledge. Shortly after, Dora Plath is invited to dinner by the President, but never comes back.
Céline Gilbert
Film producer and director. Lives and works in South Africa and UK.
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