No jacaranda blooms during this year’s Zimbabwe international film festival.
The 23rd edition of the Zimbabwe International Film Festival (ZIFF) has been rescheduled for mid-November, long after the purple plumage from Harare’s iconic Jacarandas have disappeared, the festival Trust announced in an update. Initially set to run from the 2nd to the 7th of October, the new dates will now be from the 13th to the 18th of November 2023.

According to the Trust, the postponement of the festival was in response to schedule and logistical issues arising in pre-production.

“We have received further confirmations from critical participants from the continent, arranging logistics has delayed our preparations to the extent that we felt that we didn’t have sufficient preparation time to ensure the delivery of a quality event”, read the update.

The Zimbabwe International Film Festival is an annual fixture which many local filmmakers look forward to as it provides a platform to mingle and connect with fellow industry players and stakeholders and sample a potpourri of films from across the world while at it.

This year’s festival theme, Aspiration5, is inspired by the African Union’s Agenda 2063: The Africa We Want. A strong cultural identity, common heritage, shared values and ethics are the tenets that make up Aspiration 5 of the Agenda. The 23rd edition of the festival will also see ZIFF transforming into a Pan African film fiesta with screenings of productions drawn from across Africa and the African diaspora.

Preceding the festival will be a stakeholder conference running from the 11th to the 12th of November in the ancient city of Masvingo.

In a follow-up interview with My Afrika Magazine, the Trust’s Executive Director, Solomon Maramba said that even though the dates have been moved further up the calendar, submissions of content, whose deadline had since lapsed, will remain closed as the selection team winds up the process.

The Hi Five Short film Competition, a major highlight of the festival for years, will not be part of the main dish in November , but will rather be served as dessert at a later date after the festival.

“The High Five Short Film Competition and the Smart Phone Short Film Competition will be launched at the festival and run after the festival”, explained Maramba.

Although it will take place in the absence of the purple Jacaranda bloom, a phenomenal feature which has become synonymous with ZIFF season, the 2023 fete is highly anticipated and promises to be yet another experience worth to remember for many film lovers and practitioners alike.

“We have some interesting guests who have confirmed attendance. Details will be shared once everything is finalised”, added Maramba.