8/28/09

Malkia wa Soka Zanzibar Soccer Queens


Kocha wa Mpira - Women's Football Coach.

NASSRA JUMA MOHAMMED, 43, [Founder, Coach, & Manager] is ingenious,
inspirational and passionate about football. NASSRA is the driving force behind
women’s football in Zanzibar. She is a qualified football coach, and the first female
coach in Zanzibar, Tanzania. She played badminton for many years and was a
badminton Champion for East and Central Africa in the late 1980s and mid 1990s. NASSRA is an inspiration for the young women, and she believes in women's empowerment through sports. She's been managing the team single-handedly
since 1988. Her recent initiative is setting up a provision store to sustain the team.
She is the coach, role model, and a devoted and charismatic woman who is
determined to keep women’s football alive.
Our World in Zanzibar

Women Fighters Football Team


Women Fighters Team

Mechi kali ya Women Fighters

Hii film fupi inaelezea wanawake wacheza mpira Zanzibar.
This film documents the lives and football activities of Women Fighters, a team of predominantly Muslim women in Zanzibar. It presents a community of strong-willed women determined to better their lives and define new identities through playing soccer. Their involvement with soccer goes beyond the pitch; they travel, party on the beach, and play soccer with men. This film presents a rare and fresh look at the lives of women in Africa, with challenging viewpoints from women determined to achieve personal goals beyond their prescribed traditional roles and expectations.

The very concept of Muslim women playing football is not only a novel idea, but it also challenges widely held negative perceptions about the role, image and status of women in Muslim countries where women have many restrictions such as concealing their bodies and not being in public with men who are not their relatives. What motivates these women to play football? How do they deal with society's attitude towards their love for the game? These, amongst others, are the questions that I was hoping to explore in the process of making the film.

The process of researching and defining the content and structure of the film used a variety of documentary techniques such as in-depth personal interviews, conversations and also observing and filming events as they happened. Through the individual interviews, the women speak for themselves rather than just being observed and spoken for; an insider's view about what it's like to be African.

Public screenings:

1. STV – Swedish Television
2. Qatar Television
3. Spanish Television
4. The Community Television Channel, UK
5. Audience Award (Documentary) Pink Apple Film Festival, May 2009 - Zurich, Switzerland
6. World Premiere at the Goteborg International Film Festival, Feb. 2007
7. Zanzibar International Film Festival, Ziff, July 2007; Special Mention Award
8. Women Make Waves Film Festival, Taiwan, Oct. 2007
9. Real Life Documentary Film Festival, in Ghana (June 2007);
10. FESPACO, Burkina Faso, West Africa - February/March 2007
11. ICA (Institute of Contemporary Arts), London - September 2007
12. AFRICALA, Festival Of African Films, Mexico City, April 2007
13. AFRICALA, Festival Of African Films, Venezuela, Sept 2007
14. Chapter Arts Cinema, Cardiff- October 2007 & March 2009
15. Hawaii International Film Festival, HIFF – Oct. 2007
16. Films From The South Festival, Oslo, Norway – Oct. 2007
17. Cambridge African Film Festival, Opening Night Film, Nov. 2007
18. Regent Park Film Festival, Toronto, Canada - November 2007
19. Africa Diaspora Film Festival, (ADFF) New York – Nov./Dec. 2007
20. CinemAfrica, Stockholm, Sweden, February 2008.
21. Ankara International Film Festival - March 2008
22. Cascade Festival Of African Films, Portland, Oregon, USA, March 2008.
23. International Women's Film Festival in Seoul, South Korea - April 2008
24. Canadian Sport Film Festival in Toronto, May 2008
25. Africa on Screen Film Festival, South Africa, May 2008
26. NatFilm Festival, Denmark, March/April 2008
27. Globian Film festival, Potsdam, Germany, August 2008
28. Carlow African Film Festival, Republic of Ireland, October 2008
29. International Women’s Film Festival in Chennai, India, March 2009
30. Galway Film Society, Republic of Ireland, May 2009

2 comments:

Simon Kitururu said...

Wanawake wa shoka!

John Mwaipopo said...

Hivi wakiwa mchezoni hawatakiwi kuficha nywele na maungo mengine kama ambavyo wasipokuwa michezoni?