A Cinematic Journey Through International Short Films

Screening and Q&A with Heinz Hermanns, founder and director of INTERFILM - International Short Film Festival Berlin, and filmmakers Getrude Malizeni and Aika Kirei. Hosted by the Goethe-Institut Tanzania and Ajabu Ajabu.

Join us on 29 January 2024 for a presentation of a selection of short films from all over the world, including Ajabu Ajabu's Apostles of Cinema, winner of best documentary at the festival's last edition, and Land of Lost Lakes by Aika Kirei.
                                                                                                                                                                         
Founded in 1982 and recently held in its 39th edition, INTERFILM is the oldest and largest short film festival in the capital city of Germany. Every year it’s attracting international filmmakers and local film fans alike to the cinemas. Thus the festival has long been known beyond German and European borders and become one of the most renowned short film festivals worldwide.

Born in Duisburg, Heinz Hermanns studied Politics in Berlin and Italy after working as a social worker in Belfast. Serving as the Director and Founder of INTERFILM since 1982, he has played an important role in shaping the landscape of short films. In addition to his work with INTERFILM, he has successfully founded, directed, and contributed to several other international Short Film Festivals. Among these, he founded the Zebra Poetry Film Festival and Going Underground (in the subway in Berlin and Seoul) as well as the Almagro International Film Festival in Spain. Since 2016, Hermanns has been a visiting professor at SCAU University in Guangzhou, China, and teaches at multiple Chinese universities. Hermanns brings years of experiences, having conducted film language and short film dramaturgy seminars in around 40 countries and participated in juries, debates, and presentations of short films all around the world.

Gertrude Malizeni is a creative filmmaker and multi-disciplinary artist devoted to telling stories as a means of documenting, archiving, and preserving the lived histories of women. She is a founding member of Ajabu Ajabu.

Aika Kirei is a writer and filmmaker based in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. She began her filmmaking career as a self-taught editor and producer, collaborating on a number of productions with local and international directors, including projects for Humboldt Forum, PichaTime, and Nafasi Art Space.

Ajabu Ajabu is a multimedia collective based in Dar Es Salaam which employs participatory, open ended approaches in its programming and events as a way of exploring de-centralized and communal forms of presentation, production and preservation of audio visual work in Tanzania.