Australian Embassy brings Australian Indigenous Film Festival to Zimbabwe
13 June 2016
From 9 to 11 June the Australian Embassy hosted the Black Screen Australian Indigenous Film Festival in Zimbabwe, showcasing the best of Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait film-making and storytelling. The films were screened free of charge at the Alliance Française in Harare.
On 9 June Australian Ambassador, Suzanne McCourt, launched the festival with the premiere screening of the film ‘Mabo’, a moving story of one man’s fight to claim his heritage. During her opening remarks, the Australian Ambassador said ‘this festival provides a unique opportunity for Zimbabweans to experience Australia’s rich and diverse Indigenous culture and history. The films are all entertaining, and all very different, but each, in its own way, is moving and though-provoking’.
The two days following the launch, the Australian Embassy in Harare screened 30 different films from the Black Screen collection. The festival has also travelled to South Africa and will further feature in Mauritius, Ghana and Nigeria as part of a regional tour.
All features, short films and documentaries by renowned filmmakers from the Black Screen Collection, are part of Australia’s National Film and Sound Archive. The Black Screen Collection promotes cultural awareness and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander screen culture, showcasing and supporting Australia’s Indigenous talent on and off screen (http://www.nfsa.gov.au/blackscreen/).
Both the premiere and the festival were a great success with excellent attendance. Testimonies from festival visitors were extremely positive and confirmed appreciation of the variety and quality of the films.