Lake Tanganyika is an 'Ocean' in Africa. Millions of years ago it was colonized by a little fish called 'Cichlid'. Otters, crocodiles, cobras and cormorants all hunt the fish in clear water. How the Cichlid survived and evolved is an incredible story for, millions of years later, there are over 200 new species - all found only in Lake Tanganyika. Incredibly, they have evolved to look like coral reef fish. There are cichlid equivalents of tuna, snapper, gobies and goatfish. They have evolved bizarre methods of breeding with mouth-incubation, lekking and, unique amongst fish, there is even a cuckoo. Despite all their specialization over millions of years, if an opportunity presents itself, the little fish can behave like their unspecialized ancestor. In the climax of the film, they bang together to feast on a hatch of sardine fry. This is the story of how one little fish has conquered a lake.
Maasai Remix follows three Maasai individuals who—in the United Nations, a Tanzanian village, an American university—confront challenges to their community by drawing strength from local traditions, modifying them when necessary, and melding them with new resources. Adam Mwarabu advocates for Maasai pastoralists rights to land in international political spheres. Evalyne Leng’arwa pursues a college education in the USA, having convinced her father to return 12 cows to a man contracted to marry her. Frank Kaipai, the village chairman, faces opposition as he promotes secondary school education and tries to save the village forest. Sharing a goal of Maasai self-determination in an ever-changing world, Adam, Evalyne and Frank innovate while maintaining an abiding respect and love for their culture.
In Tanzania there is a growing clandestine market for albino skin, bones and hair as ingredients in potions that promise to make people rich. As a result people with albinism live in fear of being abducted or maimed. Jerome, a young karate master, has made teaching kids with albinism to defend themselves his life's mission. Now he’s determined to take one of them to a world championship in Japan.
In partnership with the MasterCard Foundation and local partner Mwanza Youth and Children Network, the young reporters produce and broadcast radio shows that illustrate how farming can lead to individual prosperity and country-wide economic growth and teach the business and finance skills necessary to manage these small agricultural enterprises.
A British artist misses his parents' wedding anniversary for a last-minute sketching commission in Cornwall, but memories of them affect his work along the way.
A conceptual short about a man and his intuition.
On an island where religion bars women from playing soccer, the Queens resist cultural norms and challenge local assumptions about Islam and gender identity. The film explores the history and character of the team, and the evolving perception of women in sports on the island.
Evokes the personal trajectory of a Tanzanian Massai woman refusing genital mutilation. Directed by two NGO volunteers from Luxemburg working on a development project in Tanzania. Released in 2009, this film has been broadcasted since in various film festivals in Europe, on the occasion of different AR actions in Luxemburg and on national television (RTL).
"Serengeti Stories: The Work of Hugo van Lawick" follows the famed wildlife filmmaker and includes clips of his masterpiece, "People of the Forest," about chimpanzees and their social relationships. Also: clips of "Wild Dogs of Africa" (1972), a heroic story of survival.
Any unlucky carcass is dispatched in a matter of minutes by a feeding frenzy that attracts jackals and hyenas along with vultures. Scavenging insects swarm over the remaining bones and horns. While this film focuses primarily on the griffin vulture (“nature’s undertaker”), it considers the role of all scavengers in this harsh ecosystem. Generally despised as harbingers of death, they actually help maintain the health of the savannah by disposing of waste and returning nutrients to the soil.
In 1950 architect Anthony B. Almeida was one of the first to introduce modern architecture in Tanzania. At that time architectural modernism was the preferred expression of the intended colonial welfare state. After Independence in 1961 Nyerere’s African socialism used the same architectural style to convey the hope and strength of the new African nation. Following Almeida and some of his colleagues, the film questions what is left of the dreams and ideals of this first generation. It searches for new definitions of happiness in booming African cities like today’s Dar es Salaam. The film documents the everlasting human pursuit of modernity, not only in architecture but also in contemporary urban life.
Shida is the new kid in class in a private boarding school in Tanzania. He is shy, he has no self-esteem, he does not speak one word of English - the primary language in the school, and he suffers from albinism. Like most children with albinism in the country Shida was taken away from his parents to be protected from the witchcraft related killings. The film follows Shida during his first year at the new school where the rules are strict and tolerance low. He is trying his best to meet the demands. The school is a chance of an education and to escape a life on the bottom of society. With the help from his new friend Allan he is struggling to become better in school and to be accepted by the teachers and pupils.
Birdmen of Kilimanjaro is a documentary about the enormous feat of Bill and Steve Moyes climbing to the top of Mt Kilimanjaro in Africa and flying off in hang gliders.
Follow a group of novice hikers, including director Holly Stadtler, as they scale the slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa's highest mountain, in an effort to raise money for sick children, including Hope, a baby born 12 weeks premature. As the climbers ascend the treacherous peak, they contend with altitude sickness and injuries, finding that not all have the strength to reach the summit in this breathtaking documentary.
The secret life of hippos is revealed in this award-winning documentary, which follows divers into the waters of Tanzania's National Reserve. For the first time, cameras capture on film the astonishing underwater habits of these surprising creatures. A rare look at an essential part of hippo life, filmmakers Craig Huxley and Jean-Christophe Jeauffre's captivating documentary earned the Jules Verne Adventure Film Festival Audience Award.
For years, Doug Collins has been wading through a routine unsatisfying job and an increasingly miserable relationship. After his girlfriend moves out, Doug pushes himself to live a more fulfilling life starting with a trek to the summit of Mt. Kilimanjaro.
An American woman doctor comes to Tanzania to work at a hospital for the mentally disturbed, with her Tanzanian lover. There, she meets a sometimes catatonic patient, Samahe, who seems to be in communication with another reality. In their confrontation with their individual and collective pasts, Dr Asira and Samehe are bound by fears and half remembered images of unbearable pain. Only through the spirit of Maangamizi, can the women resume their lives with an understanding of the ancestors and their eternal presence in a world of cruelty, hatred and death. It is a story that seeks to reclaim the connection between Africa and her Diaspora, and one that dares to represent the histories of two continents as it peels away layers upon layers of pain to bring healing of the soul.
Mbwana and his best friend Juma are two young men with big dreams. These dreams become reality when they photograph a gigantic fish leaping out of the sea and their small town blossoms into a tourist hot-spot as a result. But for Mbwana, the reality isn't what he dreamed – and when he meets the fish again, both of them forgotten, ruined and old, he decides only one of them can survive. Jonah is a big fish story about the old and the new, and the links and the distances between them. A visual feast, shot though with humour and warmth, it tells an old story in a completely new way.
Writer Harry Street reflects on his life as he lies dying from an infection while on safari in the shadow of Mount Kilimanjaro.