The reverred home of theatre in Harare — Theatre in the Park — will be the first-ever sub-Saharan Africa venue to livestream the International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR), set to start next Friday until February 3.
By Kennedy Nyavaya
The streaming will be juxtaposed with screening to create a localised version of the Dutch fiesta, where over 500 films from around the world are scheduled for screening running under the theme, A History of Shadows.
Hosted by Rooftop Promotions, IFFR comes at a time local films have not made much impact in the recent past owing to a litany of socio-economic constraints.
Responding to questions at a press conference on Friday, Rooftop director Daves Guzha said the event was an opportunity for local filmmakers to reassert their position of excellence both in and outside the country’s borders.
“This event becomes a huge boost to say although a lot was lost, there is still a chance to do that again,” said Guzha.
“When you see such a reaffirmation, it means we [as a country] are doing extremely well and we hope it will generate a buzz to say we were once there and are not cutting corners.”
According to Guzha, the failure by other filmmakers to step-up had maintained the 1993 production titled Neria as the most watched film of all time in the country, saying such achievements should inspire novices to work harder.
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The open-to-the-public festival, which will see classic films being screened, is set to kick-start with IFFR livestreams in the first three days.
In a statement, Guzha said the coming in of IFFR was also in line with the current national transition trajectory aimed at fostering reengagement.
“We are very excited to host this event at Theatre in the Park. It is special to us because it’s the first time this world class film festival is being screened live in sub-Saharan Africa. It is clear testimony that Zimbabwe is ready to engage robustly with the rest of the progressive world,” he said.
