Tanzania's film industry, also known as Swahiliwood or Bongo movie (a

portmanteau A portmanteau word, or portmanteau (, ) is a blend of wordsSwahili, Tanzania's official language, and

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood, ...

) and Bongowood, was established around 2001. Films produced with low budgets, short schedules and camcorders are referred to colloquially as "bongo films" and are mass-released in DVD format. In 2011, bongo films were produced on a regular basis, but only a few higher quality Tanzanian feature films have been released in cinemas. Most Tanzanian film production studios are based in

Dar es Salaam Dar es Salaam (; from ar, دَار السَّلَام, Dâr es-Selâm, lit=Abode of Peace) or commonly known as Dar, is the largest city and financial hub of Tanzania. It is also the capital of Dar es Salaam Region. With a population of over s ...

. Before Tanzania's independence in 1961, some foreign movies were filmed in

Tanganyika Tanganyika may refer to: Places * Tanganyika Territory (1916–1961), a former British territory which preceded the sovereign state * Tanganyika (1961–1964), a sovereign state, comprising the mainland part of present-day Tanzania * Tanzania Main ...

and

Zanzibar Zanzibar (; ; ) is an insular semi-autonomous province which united with Tanganyika in 1964 to form the United Republic of Tanzania. It is an archipelago in the Indian Ocean, off the coast of the mainland, and consists of many small islands ...

. The

Zanzibar International Film Festival The Zanzibar International Film Festival (ZIFF), also known as Festival of the Dhow Countries, is an annual film festival held in Zanzibar, Tanzania and one of the largest cultural events in East Africa. ZIFF is a non-governmental organization esta ...

hosts films, workshops, exhibitions, Dhow races, music and performing arts, as well as panoramas of women, children and villages. The company movies are Steps Intertainment & Mzimuni Theatre Art

History

Tanzanians inherited parts of their cinematic culture from British colonialists, including the production of both commercial films and government-funded instructional films. After independence, the newly formed government led by the President

Julius Kambarage Nyerere Julius Kambarage Nyerere (; 13 April 1922 – 14 October 1999) was a Tanzanian anti-colonial activist, politician, and political theorist. He governed Tanganyika as prime minister from 1961 to 1962 and then as president from 1962 to 1964, af ...

sent home South African film expats, and established the country's own film industry under the Ministry of Community Development. South Africa was plagued by

apartheid Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...

, and Tanzania and other independent African countries broke ties with them until it ended. Replacing the South African filmmakers were Yugoslavian filmmakers, who started aiding the film industry of Tanzania in 1963, helping establish the industry. Many of the films created during this time were instructional or educational, made by the government, and distributed across Tanzania.

Tanzanian films

In 2001, '' Maangamizi: The Ancient One'' was the first and up to now the last submission of Film from Tanzania for the Academy Awards category Best Foreign Film. ''Mapenzi Ya Mungu'' (''The Will of God'') was released in 2014 Tanzanian movies list. ''Bongoland'', a film about a US immigrant from Tanzania, was released in 2003. Other notable films include ''Ni Noma'', released in June 2016. Other movies were from Mzimuni Theatre Arts which are Misukosuko release in 010 Double J ( Double Jimmy) in 013 Part Of Job

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& Inspector Seba

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Well known artists include

Steven Kanumba Steven Charles Kanumba (8 January 1984 – 7 April 2012) was a Tanzanian actor and director of Sukuma heritage, born in Shinyanga Region. Kanumba died in 2012 at the age of 28, for which actress Elizabeth Michael was convicted of involuntary ma ...

Elizabeth Michael Elizabeth Michael (Lulu) (born April 16, 1995) is a Tanzanian actress. In 2013, she won the Zanzibar International Film Festival award for Best Actress for "Woman Of Principles". She also won 2016 Africa Magic Viewers Choice Awards for Best Movi ...

, Kajala Masanja, Mzee Chillo, Baby Madaha,

Wema Sepetu Wema Abraham Sepetu (born 28 September 1990) is a Tanzanian actress and beauty contestant who won the Miss Tanzania contest in 2006 Miss Tanzania. She represented Tanzania in Miss World 2006, which was held in Poland. She later became an actres ...

Vincent Kigosi Vincent Kigosi (Ray) (born 16 May 1980) is a Tanzanian actor, producer and director. Kigosi is based in Dar-es-Salaam. Kigosi, most known as Ray, started his career 2000 in television soap opera / series and then started to appear in different ...

, Lucy Komba, Jimmy Mponda Plus Sebastian Mwanangulo

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& Charles Magari.

Foreign films

Many foreign films were shot in and around Tanzania prior to independence, including adventure, romance and war movies. Eight months of footage were required for the U.S. film ''

Men of Two Worlds ''Men of Two Worlds'' is a 1946 British Technicolor drama film directed by Thorold Dickinson and starring Robert Adams, Eric Portman and Phyllis Calvert. The screenplay concerns an African music student who returns home to battle a witch doctor ...

'' at

in 1943.

John Wayne Marion Robert Morrison (May 26, 1907 – June 11, 1979), known professionally as John Wayne and nicknamed The Duke or Duke Wayne, was an American actor who became a popular icon through his starring roles in films made during Hollywood's Gol ...

's movie ''

Hatari! ''Hatari!'' (, Swahili for "Danger!") is a 1962 American adventure romantic comedy film starring John Wayne as the leader of a group of professional game catchers in Africa.McCarthy, Todd. ''Howard Hawks: the grey fox of Hollywood'', New York, ...

'' was shot in Tanzania. Nature documentaries have been filmed in Tanzania, including a few parts of '' Impressionen unter Wasser'' and '' The Crimson Wing: Mystery of the Flamingos''. In 1992, Dutch documentary ''

Isingiro Hospital ''Isingiro Hospital'' is a 1992 Dutch documentary film, made by directors Hillie Molenaar and Joop van Wijk about the patients of the Isingiro Hospital, located in the rural area of North West Tanzania. The documentary shows patients and doctors wh ...

'' was made about a hospital in Tanzania treating

AIDS Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual m ...

patients. In 2010, filmmaker Nick Broomfield produced the documentary ''Albino United'', about an

albino Albinism is the congenital absence of melanin in an animal or plant resulting in white hair, feathers, scales and skin and pink or blue eyes. Individuals with the condition are referred to as albino. Varied use and interpretation of the term ...

football team in Tanzania in 2010, and filmed an adaption of the Ronan Bennett's novel ''The Catastrophist'' in the city of Mwanza.

References

External links

imDb's list of "Tanzania in movies" list
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mzimuni Theatre Arts