When the Samfya Women Filmmakers, a Camfed-trained filmmaking collective in a remote area of northern Zambia, began making films in 2006, they were intent on stimulating dialogue about the most challenging issues facing their community. They never imagined that their films would reach a global audience – but today, that’s exactly what’s happening.
This month, the filmmakers’ second film, “Hidden Truth”, a candid and intimate portrayal of the effects of domestic violence on women and children in their community, was named Best Documentary at the Zanzibar International Film Festival. A testament to the film’s universal power, the festival award is one of many signs that the film’s message resonates far beyond the borders of Zambia.
Among the multiple venues that have chosen to screen “Hidden Truth”, or who plan to: In 2010, the film was chosen for the San Francisco International Women’s Film Festival, broadcast on the Community Channel in the UK, and selected to tour the world with the Annual Women’s Film Institute Shorts Tour.
Most recently the film has been picked up by three different U.S. festivals: DocMiami International Film Festival in Miami, Florida; the Chagrin Documentary Film Festival in Chagrin Falls, Ohio and Awarenessfest in Los Angeles, California. “Hidden Truth” is also being recognized at African film festivals, including the Zimbabwe International Film Festival and the Zanzibar International Film Festival in Tanzania. Meanwhile, on the other side of the equator, the Filmmuseum in Potsdam, Germany and the Edinburgh College of Art in Scotland will be hosting screenings this autumn.
The film, which was funded by the Fortune magazine/Goldman Sachs Global Women Leaders Award, and by Big Lottery – a UK agency that donates money from the National Lottery to projects that improve health, education and the environment – is also making a profound impact across rural Africa. To date, Camfed has screened it for an estimated 118,000 people in more than 210 communities in Zimbabwe, Zambia and Ghana, in an effort to break the silence around the issue, and to mobilize change. To the filmmakers’ surprise, the community response has been overwhelmingly positive. “We weren’t sure that people would be pleased to see this film in their communities, because it exposes a subject that nobody wants to talk about,” says Mwelwa Kamanda, one of the filmmakers. “But in fact, people have been encouraging us to share it widely, and to make even more films about difficult issues.”
UPCOMING SCREENINGS OF HIDDEN TRUTH
DocMiami International Film Festival
Miami, Florida
Date/Time: September 23, 11:30 am
festival website
Zimbabwe International Film Festival
Harare, Zimbabwe
Dates: September 30 – October 7, 2011
festival website
Chagrin Documentary Film Festival
Chagrin Falls, Ohio
Dates: October 12-16
festival website
Filmmuseum screening
Potsdam, Germany
Date: October 21
museum website
Africa in Motion Festival
Edinburgh, U.K.
Dates: November 1-6
festival website
You can read more about screenings of “Hidden Truth” on CAMFED’s blog and learn more about the film here. In additionhttp://news.camfed.org/us/wp-admin/edit-comments.php?p=1770&approved=1#comments-form to being used to campaign for passing domestic [MORE...]