Zimbabwe Cinema Day held for the first time at Listapad Film Festival
The 30th Minsk International Film Festival Listapad has hosted Zimbabwe Cinema Day for the first time this year. Canisio Tanyanyiwa, Charge d'Affaires of the Republic of Zimbabwe in the Republic of Belarus, thanked for the invitation and noted in his welcoming speech that Zimbabwe's participation in the Minsk festival testified to the good friendship between the two countries and the close relationship between their presidents.
“Our participation is a significant step in the right direction, towards deepening relations between Zimbabwe and Belarus. We are grateful to Belarus for this invitation and opportunity to show our diverse culture – including our language, dances, poetry, and the way of life. Our culture is full of meaning. Despite the influence of the outside world, it lives in our hearts,” the diplomat said.
Regarding the film presented as part of the programme, the Zimbabwean guest noted, “We are watching a wonderful film today, it is one of the newest hybrid formats of modern films. In addition, performances by Zimbabwean artists are planned: they are to show how the country lives today.”
“The geography of the participating countries of our festival is expanding,” Deputy Culture Minister Sergei Sarakach noted. “New stars are being lit in the sky of cinematography, and joint film projects are being born. The festival has brought together an unprecedented number of participants this year: 124 countries sent applications. We have a unique opportunity to get acquainted with the Zimbabwean cinema. Actually, Zimbabwe Cinema Day has been organised for the first time as part of the Listapad festival. Zimbabwe is one of the priority countries for us – not only in Africa, but all over the world. Friendly relations between the leaders of the two states set the tone for our co-operation. In recent years, we have seen a high intensity of meetings and exchanges of high-level visits. We thank our colleagues from Zimbabwe for such a high representation at our film festival. I am sure that our co-operation in the field of culture will further develop and strengthen.”
Zimbabwean See Me film directed by Charlene Furusa was presented at the festival.
