PROFILE : The man behind Zanzibar film festival

At the age of 63, one would expect Prof Martin Mhando, the Chief Executive Officer of the Zanzibar International Film Festival (ZIFF) to be old-looking and perhaps frail.

But the opposite is true. The man behind ZIFF doesn’t look his age and is still very strong and hard working. The professor who recently marked the eighth year as the CEO of ZIFF shares his over 40 years experience in filmmaking with Sound Living.

Speaking to this writer at the just ended film festival, Prof Mhando said ZIFF was established with the aim to promote the culture of the dhow countries in East Africa and the world in general. During colonialism, a lot of business was done in the dhow countries.

It was therefore agreed that film screening be a part of promoting the culture of these countries. The festival was to rotate to Lamu and Mombasa in Kenya but since it started in Zanzibar, it was later agreed that Zanzibar should host the festival given its conducive environment.

Prof Mhando who lives in Australia says he used to feel the urge to work closely with filmmakers back home despite the fact that he was living miles away. As fate would have it, it did not take time before a ZIFF CEO post was advertised. The professor thought this was the opportunity he had been waiting for.

“I applied for the job and thank God I was offered the opportunity to be the ZIFF CEO. It was the right platform for me to contribute to the growth of the film industry in the country,” says Prof Mhando.

Film making career

The professor has since been encouraging entries for the festival from different parts of the world, but especially from Africa. He has been doing so to promote film growth in the continent.

Over the years, ZIFF has been accepting high quality films whereby the best films are awarded to motivate better quality in future.

Commenting on the film industry in Tanzania, Prof Mhando says the industry received a blow when the government announced subsidisation on films in 1986. The professor says this completely killed the industry in Tanzania.

His career in film began when he joined the University of Dar es Salaam to do a degree in theatre arts in 1972. Being among students who had a passion in film making, Prof Mhando got a scholarship to study in Japan in 1974. While there, he took part in the making of a film called ‘Asante Sana’.

The film was made to thank a Tanzanian youth who had served as a tour guide for a Japanese tourist in the country.

“I was the first student to be allowed a year off by the University of Dar es Salaam to go for a scholarship abroad. Students were not allowed to postpone studies that time. I had to write a letter to the management to convince them to let me go for the studies. I explained how the trip was important for my career,” says Prof Mhando.

It was not easy to convince the university management since it was unheard of. However, the management later allowed him to take a year’s break.

Part of the Japan training was done in Tanzania for six months. The practical training was on how to shoot films, choosing locations, script writing etc. The last six months were spent in Japan learning how to produce films, dealing with sound, generally it was all about theories of filmmaking.

“After the one year training, I was happy because I knew most important things in filmmaking. I was tempted to look for a job when I returned home but I had to complete studies at the University of Dar es Salaam. I went back to the university where I graduated in 1976,” says Prof Mhando.

Soon after his graduation in 1977, he was employed as the production manager at the then Theatre Tanzania Film Company (TFC), which collapsed in the 2000s.

Producing the first film

That same year (1977), he got an opportunity to go to Romania to do postgraduate studies in film and Television directing.

When he returned to the country after his studies, Prof Mhando produced his first film Fimbo ya Mnyonge in 1982. It was followed by another one called Yomba Yomba.

The films talked about stages of socialism in Tanzania and Romania. They also talked about development stages in the two countries, the position of a woman in the making of strong economies, leadership skills and how they applied in both countries.

“Back then it was not easy to distribute films as it is now due to poor technology. The majority of the people would watch films from common grounds in their respective regions once or twice a week. And every produced film had to be about development struggles, socialism, etc unlike these days where most films are about love,” says Prof Mhando.

In 1986, Prof Mhando produced a film called Mama Tumaini, which was about cultural exchange between Tanzania and Norway. The film was shot in Tanzania and Norway. The objective was to identify the strength of a woman in connection with the building of a strong culture.

The professor also shares about his personal life as a father of three sons who chose to leave his well paying job at the film company in 1989 to join his wife in Australia.

His wife had obtained a scholarship to do a PhD in political science at the Flinders University. Being jobless, the professor became a full time father from 1989 to 1991 while his wife studied.

“It was not easy to just resign from my job. But I knew it was an opportunity my wife was not supposed to miss. I had to make it easy for her and our family. I left my job and became a full time father,” recalls Prof Mhando.

Most of his friends and relatives did not understand why he had to do that. However, no one could convince him otherwise.

Despite being a professor, the ZIFF CEO worked as a gardener at some point in 1992 to generate income to support his family. He later landed a job as a lecturer at Flinders and later at Murdoch university.

Sacrificing for the family

While taking care of their sons full time, the professor realized how most fathers miss the opportunity of raising their children. He enjoyed bonding with the boys who in the long run became closer to him than to their mother. It is during this time that he learnt what stay at home mothers go through.

“Stay at home mothers do a lot of work at home including taking care of the children and making sure everything is in order. Mothers deserve very special treatment as they hold a very big part of the entire world,” says Prof Mhando.

While the professor looked after the children, he was at the same time applying for different jobs in filmmaking. He needed a job to support his family. In 1993, he got a job at Flinders University as a Lecturer where he taught film production up to 1997.

“It was through a friend who knew my work in films that I got the job. He advised me to apply for the lecturer position at the university that had been advertised but I was hesitant. The position remained vacant and was re-advertised three months later. I tried my luck this time round and got the job,” says Prof Mhando.

Prof Mhando says his teaching career grew slowly at Flinders University and so in 1998, he moved to Murdoch University, Perth, in western Australia as a senior lecturer and programme chair of media studies.

The professor who still lives in Australia with his family, and who is still a lecturer at Murdoch University visits the country every year to organise the Zanzibar International Film Festival.

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