Spanish, French embassies join hands with Zim film fest

The French mission’s cultural arm, Alliance Francaise, will also be one of the venues of this evolving festival in its 14th edition this year.
ZIFF, which this year will run under the theme “Finding Common Ground”, seeks to connect Africans across the continent and the world over . . .”
The festival ends next Friday.
An eclectic selection of movies from across the world, which will be shown during the festival, include An African Election (89 minutes), a feature documentary from Ghana that looks behind-the-scenes at the complex, political machinery of a Third World democracy struggling to legitimise itself to its First World contemporaries.
There is also a Panamanian/ Argentine film, Maids and Bosses (58min), which uses smoothly edited atmospheric shots and interviews accompanied by music to create a picture of the complex relationships between employers and their staff.
Love and Honour, a Japanese feature film, looks at the relationship between a young blind samurai (Kimura) and his wife, who will make a sacrifice in order to defend her husband’s honour.
But also watch out for Blood in the Mobile (82min), a film from Finland. We love our cellphones and the selection between different models has never been bigger. But the production of phones has a dark, bloody side.
Meanwhile, the collaboration between the Spanish Embassy and ZIFF will see two movies screened each day at its cultural centre. The embassy will also screen two Spanish movies on Tuesday and Thursday.
The Spanish Embassy’s cultural attaché, Marina Garcia, said they were pleased to bring the movies – Átame! (Tie Me Up, Tie Me Down) and Celda 211 which will be screened at the cultural centre as part of the film festival.
Átame! is one of the best movies to be directed by the great Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar. This was the movie which launched the Hollywood career of Spanish actor Antonio Banderas.
“You will not forget this movie where love, madness and destiny play a controversial role,” said Garcia.
“If you like adventure and action, you cannot miss the second Spanish movie, Celda 211, which will be screened on Thursday . The movie is directed by Daniel Monzón and won eight Goya prizes in 2009, for the best film, actor and director. It tells the story of two men on different sides of a prison riot. Celda 211 will also be screened in Norton on Monday (October 3).”
She also said the embassy has opened a tearoom in the cultural centre where refreshments will be served “in the most Arabic style”.
The Alliance Francaise will on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday screen a selection of short films and documentaries from the African continent including a Brazilian short film, Capoeira – New Horizons, which will be the only paying film on the day.
Besides the two mentioned above, the other venues for the festival include the Harare Gardens with three screens (ZIFF Main Screen, Human Rights Tent and the Common Ground Tent) National Arts Gallery in Bulawayo, Pakare Paye Arts Centre in Norton and the Young Africa Skills Centre in Chitungwiza.
There are also going to be live performances after the show. Some of the artistes who are billed to perform at the various venues include Chiwoniso Maraire, Andy Brown, the Charambas, Transit Crew, Mic Inity and Victor Kunonga, among others.
Movies at the Spanish Embassy and the Alliance Française are free of charge while those at the Harare Gardens cost US$5 in advance and US$10 at the gate. Tickets are available at Reps Theatre and Spotlight and ZIFF offices, The Book Cafe and National Gallery.