''Tug of War'' (original title: Vuta N'Kuvute) is a 2021 Tanzanian coming-of-age political drama about love and resistance set in the final years of British colonial Zanzibar. The film was directed by Amil Shivji based on the award-winning novel of the same name by Adam Shafi. ''Tug of War'' is Tanzania's second entry ever, and its first in 21 years, for the Academy Award Best International Feature category. In November 2022, it was awarded the

Tanit d'Or The Tanit d'or is the grand prize of the Carthage Film Festival, hosted annually in Tunisia. The award is named for the lunar goddess of ancient Carthage and takes the shape of her symbol, a triangle surmounted by a horizontal line and a circle. ...

, the top prize at Tunisia's

Carthage Film Festival The Carthage Film Festival (CFF) is an annual film festival that takes place in Tunis and founded in 1966. It is also called by its abbreviation JCC, from its French name, , or by its Arabic title, (''Cinema Days of Carthage''). Initially bienn ...

Plot

Taking place in 1950s

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 ...

, ''Tug of War'' is set during the movement to win independence for Zanzibar, then a British Protectorate. Denge, a young freedom fighter trained in the Soviet Union, distributes “Free Zanzibar” pamphlets and recruits people to the cause. One of his recruits is Yasmin, a run-away bride from a privileged, upper class Indian-Zanzibari family. She falls in love with Denge and becomes committed to the independence movement.

Awards

* Best Feature Film

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 ...

2022 (Tanzania) * Best East African Feature Film

2022 (Tanzania) * Best Actor

2022 (Tanzania) * Special Jury Prize

Seattle International Film Festival The Seattle International Film Festival (SIFF), held annually in Seattle, Washington since 1976, is among the top film festivals in North America. Audiences have grown steadily; the 2006 festival had 160,000 attendees. The SIFF runs for more th ...

2022 (USA) * Best Long Fiction Mashariki African Film Festival 2021 (Rwanda) * Oumarou Ganda Prize for Best Fiction

FESPACO The Panafrican Film and Television Festival of Ouagadougou (Festival panafricain du cinéma et de la télévision de Ouagadougou or FESPACO) is a film festival in Burkina Faso, held biennially in Ouagadougou, where the organization is based. It ...

2021 (Burkina Faso) *

Doha Film Institute Doha Film Institute (DFI) is a nonprofit cultural organisation established in 2010 by Sheikha Al-Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani to support the growth of the Qatari film community and to provide funding and international networking oppor ...

Post Production Fund Spring 2020 (Qatar) * Visions Sud Est Post Production Fund 2020 (Switzerland) * World Cinema Production Fund 2019 (Germany)

Festivals

Toronto International Film Festival The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the largest publicly attended film festivals in the world, attracting over 480,000 people annually. Since its founding in 1976, TIFF has grown to become a permane ...

(2021) where it was the first Tanzanian film to be screened at TIFF *

African Film Festival African Film Festival, Inc. (AFF) is a non-profit cultural organization that presents an annual film festival and year-round community programs. Based in New York City, the organization was founded in 1990. The organization is dedicated to promot ...

(2022) *

(2022) * Black Star Film Festival (2022) * Afrika Film Festival Cologne (2022) * Afrykamera (2022) * Qisah International Film Festival (2022) *

(2022) *

International Film Festival of Kerala The International Film Festival of Kerala (abbreviated as IFFK) is a film festival held annually in Thiruvananthapuram, the capital city of Kerala, India. This film festival started in 1996 and is hosted by the Kerala State Chalachitra Academy ...

(2022)

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, tt15138462 Tanzanian drama films 2021 films