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Showbiz Reporter

The National Arts Council of Zimbabwe (NACZ) and the Piton International Film Festival (PIFF) are calling on filmmakers to enter for this year’s NACZ/PIFF-Africa festival.

This is a 12-month initiative that focuses on enhancing filmmaking in the continent by encouraging collaborations among filmmakers working in their different countries.

The festival is to be held under the theme “Narratives from Africa ‘Embracing African Culture through Film, Poetry, and Dialogue”.

Submissions were opened on February 1 and will close on April 30.

According to NACZ, the second edition of NACZ/PIFF-Africa 2022 seeks to create even more platforms for practitioners in the continent to develop their filmmaking skills by working together.

“Last year NACZ/PIFF-Africa heralded the collaboration of Zimbabwe’s Gesh23 Studios and King Paul Media of Uganda working on a short film titled Find Me. NACZ/PIFF hopes to develop on that and provide fresh impetus for different practitioners in the film industry to develop their skills through working with others and sharing their different experiences.

“This year NACZ is focused on improving the number of submissions from Zimbabwe as the host to increase audiences and raise the level of filmmaking in the country.”

Last year only three Zimbabwean films, “Scars”, “Isolation” and “The Collector” made it to the final line-up of films shown during the virtual festival.

“We are aware that despite the prevalence of lockdowns imposed by governments in dealing with Covid-19, filmmakers kept their art going. NACZ/PIFF Africa 2022 is a platform created for them to engage, highlight, share and showcase some of the creative work coming out of Africa.

“NACZ is thus excited to start receiving submissions for the festival so that other programmes focused on the filmmakers themselves can start running providing them with a unique opportunity for education, collaboration, and celebration of the continent.”