The Snows of Kilimanjaro

Writer Harry Street reflects on his life as he lies dying from an infection while on safari in the shadow of Mount Kilimanjaro.

1952-10-08 | en

The African Queen

At the start of the First World War, in the middle of Africa’s nowhere, a gin soaked riverboat captain is persuaded by a strong-willed missionary to go down river and face-off a German warship.

1952-01-07 | en

Maangamizi: The Ancient One

An American woman doctor comes to Tanzania to work at a hospital for the mentally disturbed, with her Tanzanian lover. There, she meets a sometimes catatonic patient, Samahe, who seems to be in communication with another reality. In their confrontation with their individual and collective pasts, Dr Asira and Samehe are bound by fears and half remembered images of unbearable pain. Only through the spirit of Maangamizi, can the women resume their lives with an understanding of the ancestors and their eternal presence in a world of cruelty, hatred and death. It is a story that seeks to reclaim the connection between Africa and her Diaspora, and one that dares to represent the histories of two continents as it peels away layers upon layers of pain to bring healing of the soul.

2001-02-18 | en

Sketches

A British artist misses his parents' wedding anniversary for a last-minute sketching commission in Cornwall, but memories of them affect his work along the way.

2017-04-25 | en

The Gift

Mashoto’s life in the city is a hustle. It’s a fast life in the fast city of Dar es Salaam. There’s no time to stop and Mashoto likes it this way. There’s no time to think about the people he left behind in the village. Until silence cuts through the city racket with three words: mother has died. With those words Mashoto’s life changes forever. He returns home, to the place he abandoned, to bury his only ally. Yet his mother has left behind a gift. Her voice, her unseen presence, a gentle whisper urging him to open his eyes and strain his ears- to learn the lessons of nature, of the earth and the roots that draw their nourishment from it. Cast out by his father after losing the little money his mother had left, Mashoto must learn to survive from the land. He must learn to face old enemies and forge new alliances, to fight and to love. Most of all, Mashoto must discover what it is he is fighting for.

2017-11-03 | sw

Many Words for Modern

In 1950 architect Anthony B. Almeida was one of the first to introduce modern architecture in Tanzania. At that time architectural modernism was the preferred expression of the intended colonial welfare state. After Independence in 1961 Nyerere’s African socialism used the same architectural style to convey the hope and strength of the new African nation. Following Almeida and some of his colleagues, the film questions what is left of the dreams and ideals of this first generation. It searches for new definitions of happiness in booming African cities like today’s Dar es Salaam. The film documents the everlasting human pursuit of modernity, not only in architecture but also in contemporary urban life.

2007-06-25 | en

Among the Wild Chimpanzees

In 1960 Jane Goodall set out for Tanzania's remote Gombe Stream Game Reserve to study the behavior of man's closest living relative, the chimpanzee. With dedication and perseverance she earned the trust of a wild chimp community, and gradually they revealed their individual personalities and the rich tapestry of their daily life. This program looks at two landmark decades of Jane Goodall's work, including her dramatic discovery of chimpanzees making and using tools.

1984-01-30 | en

Mila Tu. Becoming a Massaï woman without mutilation

Evokes the personal trajectory of a Tanzanian Massai woman refusing genital mutilation. Directed by two NGO volunteers from Luxemburg working on a development project in Tanzania. Released in 2009, this film has been broadcasted since in various film festivals in Europe, on the occasion of different AR actions in Luxemburg and on national television (RTL).

2009-01-01 | sw

In the Shadow of the Serengeti

A Maasai human rights lawyer fights to stop the evictions of his people from their homelands in Tanzania. On the outskirts of Serengeti National Park in East Africa, Maasai face eviction from their land to make way for international tourism and hunting grounds. Human rights lawyer Joseph Oleshangay campaigns for his community to remain on its homeland as it has done for generations. While he represents Maasai communities in court, Joseph also remains close to his traditions among the cattle at his rural home near the Ngorongoro Crater. Risking his life to gather evidence from recently depopulated villages, Joseph battles in court where he leads the fight to resist the evictions.

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Kilimanjaro: Going For Broke

Paul Pritchard, David Limb, Jamie Andrew & Pete Steane - four disabled climbers tackle Kilimanjaro, the highest mountain in Africa.

2004-01-01 | en

The KFC

Five Kiwis take on a paragliding adventure in Tanzania, with the ultimate aim to fly from the summit of Mt Kilimanjaro.

2020-06-27 | en

Beyond Limits

A man (Bonner Paddock) born with cerebral palsy attempts to conquer Mt. Kilimanjaro in the name of charity and inspiration.

2010-05-05 | en

Jonah

Mbwana and his best friend Juma are two young men with big dreams. These dreams become reality when they photograph a gigantic fish leaping out of the sea and their small town blossoms into a tourist hot-spot as a result. But for Mbwana, the reality isn't what he dreamed – and when he meets the fish again, both of them forgotten, ruined and old, he decides only one of them can survive. Jonah is a big fish story about the old and the new, and the links and the distances between them. A visual feast, shot though with humour and warmth, it tells an old story in a completely new way.

2013-01-16 | en

Wings Over the Serengeti

Any unlucky carcass is dispatched in a matter of minutes by a feeding frenzy that attracts jackals and hyenas along with vultures. Scavenging insects swarm over the remaining bones and horns. While this film focuses primarily on the griffin vulture (“nature’s undertaker”), it considers the role of all scavengers in this harsh ecosystem. Generally despised as harbingers of death, they actually help maintain the health of the savannah by disposing of waste and returning nutrients to the soil.

1995-04-28 | en

Héroes Anónimos

2018-12-05 | es

Serengeti Symphony

Serengeti Symphony is a breathtaking look at the astounding landscape and exotic animals that make up the Serengeti National Park in Tanzania. The film accounts the daily lives and intricacies of animals such as giraffe, flamingos, leopards and cheetahs, each vivid scene flawlessly paired with a musical score written by Laurens van Rooyen. Serengeti Symphony brings the beauty of Africa to life like never before, with close up colourful images of the terrain and unimaginable glimpses of the wildlife, allowing the true character of the landscape, and the grace and spirit of every animal, to shine through.

1998-10-07 | en

Black Samurai

In Tanzania there is a growing clandestine market for albino skin, bones and hair as ingredients in potions that promise to make people rich. As a result people with albinism live in fear of being abducted or maimed. Jerome, a young karate master, has made teaching kids with albinism to defend themselves his life's mission. Now he’s determined to take one of them to a world championship in Japan.

2020-08-01 | it

Darwin's Nightmare

Africa in the sixties. The Nile perch, a ravenous predator, is introduced into Lake Victoria as a scientific experiment, causing the extinction of many native species. Its meat is exported everywhere in exchange for weapons, creating a globalized evil alliance on the lake shores. An infernal nightmare in the real world that wipes out Darwin's Theory of Evolution.

2005-01-21 | en

Serengeti Stories

"Serengeti Stories: The Work of Hugo van Lawick" follows the famed wildlife filmmaker and includes clips of his masterpiece, "People of the Forest," about chimpanzees and their social relationships. Also: clips of "Wild Dogs of Africa" (1972), a heroic story of survival.

2005-10-12 | de

A Little Fish in Deep Water

Lake Tanganyika is an 'Ocean' in Africa. Millions of years ago it was colonized by a little fish called 'Cichlid'. Otters, crocodiles, cobras and cormorants all hunt the fish in clear water. How the Cichlid survived and evolved is an incredible story for, millions of years later, there are over 200 new species - all found only in Lake Tanganyika. Incredibly, they have evolved to look like coral reef fish. There are cichlid equivalents of tuna, snapper, gobies and goatfish. They have evolved bizarre methods of breeding with mouth-incubation, lekking and, unique amongst fish, there is even a cuckoo. Despite all their specialization over millions of years, if an opportunity presents itself, the little fish can behave like their unspecialized ancestor. In the climax of the film, they bang together to feast on a hatch of sardine fry. This is the story of how one little fish has conquered a lake.

1996-04-18 | en