Discoveries from Tanzania World Cinema

Homesickness drives Neema Ngelime to the district of Matonge in Brussels, which is home to a large African community. The busy shopping streets evoke memories of her life in Tanzania. She wants to record the similarities with her native land for her grandmother, but that is easier said than done. As in Tanzania, most people on the street prefer not to be filmed. Yet, Ngelime gradually gets closer to the shopkeepers and customers of Chaussée de Wavre, and shares her observations with the viewer.

As recently as forty years ago, most sections of the Maasai were semi-nomadic and relatively independent of the nation-state. However, political, social and economic changes in East Africa have forced many herders to adopt a sedentary lifestyle. The Chairman and the Lions introduces Frank Kaipai Ikoyo, a charismatic Ilparakuyo Maasai who, at thirty-three, is the leader of a Tanzanian village called Lesoit. Ikoyo was elected to his post at the age of twenty-six in part because he had completed primary school. That someone so young would be accorded such authority would have been without precedent not long ago. Yet this ethnography of Ikoyo's duties as village chairman shows how literacy and insight into the workings of the nation-state are essential for Maasai to combat the many lions, both real and figurative, that beset them: land grabbers, "bush" lawyers, unemployment, out-migration and poverty.

Following the everyday life of 21-year-old Samira from Zanzibar for 7 years, NDOTO YA SAMIRA depicts the quiet victories of a determined young woman.

People who seek wealth and success through local beliefs - A documentary on the hunting of people with albinism in Tanzania, where the hunter and the prey speak.

The film explores the rural life and feelings of the Iteso people of Kenya. The African sense of community is experienced through their daily activities ranging from farming to storytelling. The film portrays the Iteso’s spirit of sharing and reciprocal giving, values which contribute to the unity and survival of communities in Africa. The film is narrated by members of the Iteso community.

A documentary exploring how educational initiatives are empowering Maasai women and girls in Tanzania, revealing their resilience, hopes, and the challenges they face in a rapidly changing world.

In a story of loss, resilience and love, two strangers are brought together in circumstances that only the holiday season could deliver.

Tanzanian Predator

Five siblings are brought back under the same roof after their father's passing, with a deadly intruder roaming their halls and no way out they are forced to face the truth, the intruder, and worse, each other.

After being released from jail, Jitu decides to change his bad behavior and become a good person.

Mwanahiti is a fertility doll traditionally found among several matrilineal communities in Tanzania. Historically, these dolls and the accompanying rituals have played a vital role in guiding young girls through their transition into womanhood. Over generations, however, these initiation traditions have evolved, influenced by shifting social dynamics such as increased mobility, changing educational systems, religious diversification, and the impact of media.

The film gives voice to the growing trend of Afro-descendants moving back to the continent of Africa to live. It highlights the life of a professional educator and their journey through the Texas school system to find freedom amid issues surrounding school equity, racism, and miseducation. This is juxtaposed against the life and legacy of the founding father of Tanzania, Mwalimu Julius Nyerere, who enacted empowering policies such as Ujamaa and Education for Self-Reliance, and the life and times of Dr. John Pombe Magufuli, the president who denounced COVID-19.

Sibusiso is a center for children with mental disabilities located in Arusha, Tanzania. Mentally disabled children here have limited possibilities to realize their developement potential because within Tanzanian culture, a handicap is often regarded as a taboo and a punishment from God. Sibusiso's mission is to increase the acceptance of mentally handicapped children and to give them the opportunity to discover and develop their capabilities.

Suffering from a serious illness, Mariamu and those around her find themselves in conflict with their traditional values.