You can be sure that the TV crews that are accompanying President Obama don't have a clue about the country except that it has lots of wildlife. tourist attractions and national parks. You would be hard put to accuse them of knowing what diverse perspectives are, much less displaying them in their programming. They are looking for a safari, not substance.
Watching the cable in my hotel room, there are low-brow American action adventure B movies (a.k.a violent flicks) and wrestling matches along with CSPAN like shows in Swahili from the Parliament and sermons by Muslim clergymen.
Very few of the provocative films shown at ZIFF get on the air here, although a festival sponsor, ZUKU (slogan: "AMAZING") may buy some of the films for its regional pay TV channel. Zuku has pledged ten years of support for the festival, way ahead of the others including the local government.
Cultural industries are often neglected by western "developers" despite their mass reach. I did see an excellent TV educational program for kids but it was plastered with adverts for FANTA soft drinks, the last thing you would want children to become addicted to.
The West promotes electricity--as in lights --rather than cultural electricity that inspires the public to want to change their lives. (Ironically, The U.S. backs infrastructure projects here while blocking them at home as the power grid falters and bridges collapse.)
To its credit, the ZIFF Festival also offers workshops like one that I will be teaching in critical journalism, a conference for academics on cultural studies, skills sessions for wannabe filmmakers and even an out-reach program for sex workers and anti-AIDS activism. They are also working with other cultural institutions to create a regional film commission to lure more film production to the region and support local filmmakers.
To its credit also, there are film showings in villages and the outer island of Pemba. They bring culture to the people as well as hold large outdoor screenings in a stone amphitheater in a colorful and historic old fort. The Fort is one of many attractions in an area known as Stone Town, a UNESCO world heritage site.
What's also impressive is the care that's given to the highest standards of projection.
ZIFF also showcases an array of sensational Bongo Films, low-budget home-made Swahili language moves, that are building audiences throughout East Africa.
The festival draws well known and award-winning big-time filmmakers like Mira Nair, who has been making widely shown movies for over twenty years. Her film "The Reluctant Fundamentalist" opened the Festival and just won the German Peace Prize.
This timely and brave movie explores the contradictions of the war on terror in Pakistan as well as the parallels between violent religious fundamentalism and the pro-market capitalism fundamentalism on display in the Obama visit.
Barack Obama will no doubt not have the "time" to pop over to Zanzibar for the festival, but, if he did, he would see how culture leads politics in the hearts and minds of people here as elsewhere.
News Dissector Danny Schechter showed one of his documentaries on Nelson Mandela at the Festival. He edits Mediachannel.org and blogs at NewsDissector.net.
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