Zuku has announced the sponsorship of 5 New Film Award Categories with cash prizes to the ZIFF Festival. The award, which will be added to the attractive bouquet of award at the festival, will be awarded exclusively to Swahili Movies. The awards include: Zuku Best Swahili Feature Film, Best Actor in Swahili Film, Zuku Best Actress in Swahili Film, Zuku Best Director in Swahili Film, Zuku People’s Choice Award for Swahili Film each with cash prizes
The Zuku Best Swahili Feature Film will receive a cash prize of Tshs 1 million, whereas Best Swahili Actor, Best Swahili Actress, Best Film Director and Zuku People’s Choice Award will each receive a cash token of Tshs 500,000. The Films selected for the awards will be selected from features films, documentaries, animations, short feature films entered for the ZIFF Festival. Hanellie Bekker, Wananchi Programming Director said, “We are excited that in our second year of the ZIFF festival, we have invested to include ZUKU Awards to the festival. The awards, which will exclusively be awarded to Swahili Films, have provided a platform for us to reward the local industry as well as raise the standards of filmmaking in East Africa and more particularly in Tanzania to international standards.”
The judging criteria for the Best Swahili Feature film will include Production Quality, Story &Character, Writing, Acting, Cinematography, Music/Score and Directing. Judges will also be looking for production value on screen, level of difficulty, “watchability” or replay value of a piece and consistency with film festival guidelines and objectives. The judging Criteria for the Zuku Best Actor and Actress Award will be: Understanding and Commitment to the script, ability to work as a whole to create a mood or tone, giving performance that is conducive to the production and overall effectiveness of performance. The judging panel for these awards will include accredited film producers and directors renowned film critics and journalists from East Africa, ZIFF and Zuku Representatives.
Films in Competition are:
Laptop by Rashid Mrutu / Maduhu by John Lister / Bikira Kidawa by Rashid Mturu / Woman of Principles by Vincent Kigosi/ Nakwenda kwa Mwanangu by Jacob Stephen / Room No.13 by Amitabh Aurora/ Crush/Husuda by Issa Mbura/ C.I.D by Jackson Kabirigi / Network by John Kallage/ Mdundiko by Jackson Kabirigi / Fungate by Issa Mussa/ Lovers Island by Bond Bin Suleiman / Changu by Adam Juma/ Chips Kuku by Msafiri Shabani0 / Lost “Journey to Nowhere” by Sajni Sirvastava