The board of the Emerson’s Zanzibar Foundation launched the first annual Emerson’s Film Award for the best film produced by Zanzibari filmmakers to be presented at the Zanzibar International Film Festival (ZIFF) 2016.
The mission of the Award is to recognise the unique and significant nature of the emerging local film talent on the island of Zanzibar. Thus the Award aims to inspire talented film makers in the archipelago, and encouraging them to celebrate their culture, history and stories about Zanzibar.
The Foundation jury will be assessing films made locally and presenting the award of $1000, which will be presented at the ZIFF Awards Ceremony at the Old Fort on 16 July. It is hoped that the award will also help promote talented Zanzibari film makers and support them in their career in the future.
The Emerson’s Zanzibar Foundation Award is an important part of the sustained legacy, created on behalf of the great Emerson Dewey Skeens, by the esteemed board of the Foundation.
In honour of this inaugural event The Foundation announced the unique opportunity to publish the life, times and poems of Mzee Haji Gora, the octogenarian Zanzibari poet laureate. The book was written by Ally Saleh, a renowned Zanzibari journalist.
For more information visit the ZIFF website.
