Film premiere images taken by Vanessa Mwingira (@punkandblvck)
/ Binti film
Binti brings Hollywood to Bongowood Not many Tanzanian films make it onto the big screen, but Dar-set drama Binti has secured a cinematic release at home and abroad. Twiga speaks to Angela Ruhinda, its co-screenwriter and co-executive producer, about the new standards the film sets.
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nternational Women’s Day, March 8, saw the world premiere of Tanzanian-made film Binti at this year’s online Pan African Film & Arts Festival (PAFF) along with gala screenings at cinemas in Dar es Salaam, Nairobi and Kampala. It was a fitting date for a film in which women dominate in front of and behind the camera. Tanzanian cinema-goers will also have the chance to see Binti (the title means ‘daughter’ in Swahili) on the big screen as it goes on nationwide release from April 9. The powerful film focuses on four very different women in Dar es Salaam, whose lives ultimately entwine in unforgettable fashion. The project was devised and brought to screens by Tanzanian production company Black Unicorn Studios, run by sisters Angela and Alinda Ruhinda. Angela also wrote the screenplay alongside the film’s director, Seko Shamte. The March 8 date for the
premiere was a happy accident, Angela tells me, as was the allwomen creative team assembled for the film. She was delighted to secure Seko – an established Tanzanian filmmaker with her own production company, Alkemist Media – as she was the best person for the role, irrespective of gender.
Universal story “Picking Seko to be our director was the best decision we could have made,” the 32-year-old says. “She’s very sharp and she has never had the opportunity to tell a story about women like this.” That story of the struggles for women is not only a recognisable one in Dar es Salaam, but Angela also hopes it has universal relevance to women all over the world. The predominantly Swahili film’s English subtitles should help build the film’s reach beyond East Africa. Those in the audience, wherever
(below) Angela Ruhinda and (above) with the Black Unicorn Studios team
they are, should be prepared for an emotional experience. “Bring your tissues,” says Angela. She adds: “Binti explores the interior spaces of women that we rarely get to see. It sheds light on the concerns, plight and pressures of Tanzanian women living in its cities. We hope our audiences leave the cinema knowing that the Tanzanian woman is no different from other women from other parts of the world. “It is a universal story of the struggle of women in general. And it is important for men to see this film as well and recognize their sisters, mothers and daughters.” Being selected for PAFF should play a role in raising the global profile of the film. In its usual pandemic-less physical form, the 10-day festival is based at a cinema in Los Angeles, a US city Angela knows well. The film fanatic and keen writer headed to the home of Hollywood in 2011 to study for a masters in airtanzania.co.tz / 27
