EU launches film contest for Tanzanian youth

European Union delegation press officer Susanne Mbise adressing journalists at a news conference at the Umoja House in Dar es Salaam.

What you need to know:

  • Speaking in Dar es Salaam the EU communications officer Sussane Mbise said young and aspiring Tanzanian film producers between 18 to 35 years were  to compete for the prize of the best short film under the theme: “The Growing Population: a development challenge or an opportunity?”

Dar es Salaam.The Delegation of the European Union to the United Republic of Tanzania and East Africa in collaboration with the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the French Embassy, the Alliance Francaise as well as the British Council monday launched the European Youth Film Competition.

Speaking in Dar es Salaam the EU communications officer Sussane Mbise said young and aspiring Tanzanian film producers between 18 to 35 years were  to compete for the prize of the best short film under the theme: “The Growing Population: a development challenge or an opportunity?”

The winner according to her will take home a prizes worth Sh7 million, while the first runner up will win prizes worth Sh5 million and the second runner-up will win prizes worth Sh3 million.

Speaking at the news conference the Head of the EU Delegation to Tanzania, Ambassador Roeland van de Geer has said population growth can both be a challenge and an opportunity at the same time.

 ‘With the high rate of population growth, the country faces both challenges and opportunities in its development initiatives. A growing population already burdens the scarce social services such as health, education, infrastructure and such.

He added: On the other hand, a growing population could also mean more human resources in different sectors of production, better innovativeness and creativity; enhance competition in service delivery and production.

According to him the film competition is an excellent opportunity for young Tanzanians to creatively express themselves about a topic of great importance in Tanzania’s pursuit for development.

The European Youth Film Competition will take place in phases over a period of several months from the calls for proposal to the final ceremony.

The competition requires the participants to produce five to ten minutes (5-10min) long videos in any genre; documentary, fiction, animation and doc-dramas.

The films are required to be in English or Swahili (with English subtitles). The films will be judged in terms of compliance with the theme, creativity, video quality and compliance to the rules of submission.