Film Industry in Tanzania
Situated just south of the equator, Tanzania is an East African country. It became a sovereign state in 1964 through the union of the theretofore separate states of Tanganyika and Zanzibar. The name is derived from first three letters of two states Tanganyika and Zanzibar (“Tan” and “Zan”) and the suffix, “ia” to form Tanzania . The country has two official languages Swahili and English. Swahili is the country’s lingua franca comprised of Bantu dialects and Arabic.
The country continues its oral storytelling and tribal dancing traditions . In 1930s, music containing Cuban elements was popular and in the 1960s Congolese music, with its peculiar guitar sound and mix of Cuban and African rhythms evolved as an important part of the culture. In the early 21st century rap and reggae emerged as musical genres, and mchiriku, a techno-style sound influenced by traditional rhythms, also became prominent.
Besides consuming content from Hollywood, India and Nigeria, Tanzania has its own emerging industry informally known as Swahiliwood . These films are referred as ‘bongo films’ as they are produced with low budgets, short schedules, on camcorders and mass released in DVD format. Media for Development International Tanzania (MFDI-TZ) promotes development through socially conscious programming in Tanzania and Africa at large. Employing locals, it produces film, video, television, serials, and music.
MFDI , a nonprofit organization registered in the United States, is run by six board members from around the world. The organization plans to collaborate and coproduce feature films with Entertainment-Education (EE). This production process will build up local filmmakers with assistance from Swahiliwood’s vast distribution network to reach wide audiences. Through this program, Swahili filmmakers attend workshops in script development, preproduction, production, postproduction, and marketing.
Tanzania filmmakers often have limited production skills and equipment but are determined to develop the industry to rival Nigeria’s Nollywood. According to Mr. Paul Mashauri a member of creative moviemakers in Tanzania’s film industry, “The Tanzanian film industry has lots of potential as Tanzania has a beautiful landscape for filming, plenty of creative people and good talented actors and actresses. The movie industry for instance now, there is a growing demand for the local content through cable network TV’s and online platforms, which means that if you can develop or produce a good movie here, and be able capture the attention of the market in east Africa which is more than 100 million people, it is a very huge business.”
The Tanzanian film industry is making efforts to improve production with high-tech cameras, better production facilities and developing filmmaking skills.
Recently the Tanzanian government introduced new regulations and operational costs to the film industry. Dr. Hasaan Abbasi, permanent secretary of the ministry of Information, Culture, Arts and Sports declared the reduction of filming permit fees to help actors and filmmakers to produce high quality movies. According to new regulations filmmakers will pay only Sh50, 000 ($21) to get a filming permit instead of Sh500,000 ($215). Dr. Abbasi wants filmmakers to make movies attractive enough to grab audience attention and generate business. The film board and the ministry are forming a committee responsible for copyrights and contracts, ensuring actors get paid fairly.
The Tanzanian government believes the film industry has potential to create employment opportunities while simultaneously boosting Tanzania’s brand and Kiswahili language. The film industry can be used to achieve national progress, a government official said. In 2019, Tanzania passed a bill that demands local and foreign film companies share their raw footage with the government and allow it to use the video to promote the country.
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