When
February (exact dates vary annually)
Where
Stone Town, Zanzibar
Duration
5 – 7 days of programming
The Zanzibar International Film Festival, known locally as ZIFF or the Festival of the Dhow Countries, is one of the Indian Ocean world's most significant cultural gatherings. Founded in 1998, it brings together filmmakers, artists, and musicians from across East Africa, the Middle East, and South Asia for a week of screenings, performances, and conversations in the ancient stone heart of Zanzibar.
The festival's setting is inseparable from its meaning. Films are screened in the courtyards of coral-stone houses, in the ruins of old Arab palaces, and under the stars at the Old Fort, a 17th-century fortification whose walls now hold a different kind of siege. The programming celebrates the cultures that have met at Zanzibar's crossroads for a thousand years: Swahili, Arabic, Indian, and African voices in conversation with each other.
Visiting Zanzibar during ZIFF means access to the Stone Town that few tourists ever see, animated, local, intellectually alive. Combine it with two or three nights on the north coast and you have a Zanzibar trip with real cultural depth to accompany the Indian Ocean beauty.
What to Expect
Open-Air Screenings
Films screened at the Old Fort, the Palace Museum, and intimate courtyards throughout Stone Town. Most events are free or low-cost.
Live Music & Performance
Taarab music, ngoma drumming, spoken word, and contemporary East African performance arts in public spaces across the city.
Cultural Discussions
Panel conversations and workshops with filmmakers, artists, and scholars from across the Indian Ocean world.
Festive Stone Town
The city comes alive during ZIFF. Restaurants, rooftops, and alleyways fill with a genuinely international creative crowd.
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