The Africa Channel presents inaugural TV Series Festival at Ziff 2018
Ziff festival director Fabrizio Colombo said: "As the lines between TV, film and digital content blur, it is becoming more and more essential to recognise and promote the amazing work being done by TV producers and directors across Africa. Broadcast TV in Africa is still a rapidly expanding environment, and with the rest of the world eagerly looking to Africa for fresh and original content, platforms like The Africa Channel are ideally poised to share this content globally."
With some of Africa and the world’s best-known content producers and distributors on hand for Ziff, taking place from 7 – 15 July, and Discop Zanzibar, from 11 – 13, the Zanzibar TV Series Festival presented by The Africa Channel will be the official showcase for TV shows selected in competition for Ziff.
Two days of competition screenings selected by the Ziff festival will screen from 12 – 13 July and will be followed by a showcase day of screenings on 14 July where platforms such as The Africa Channel will highlight some of their newest and most exciting content.
Open to the public as well as industry guests, the Zanzibar TV Series Festival presented by The Africa Channel will celebrate excellence. The event strives to create a stage on which the foremost creators in the world of TV series come together, where tomorrow’s talents are showcased and a prestigious international competition for a wide range of genres and for series of all shapes and forms is presented.
Celebrating the TV content genre
Ziff's Colombo has spearheaded this vision of celebrating the TV content genre within the traditional film festival format. “Across the world, TV content is now acknowledged for its quality production and importance for the industry," he said. "Here in Africa especially, many producers and directors get their start in TV production and it is a critical growth driver for the next generation of filmmakers. Ziff is always innovating and looking to find ways to support the growth of the industry in Africa, and we are excited to partner with Discop and The Africa Channel in the important TV space.”
Narendra Reddy, executive vice president and general manager of The Africa Channel, said, "We are so proud to be the official sponsor of the inaugural Zanzibar TV Series Festival at this year's Ziff event. The Africa Channel has been privileged to present content from and about Africa to North American audiences for over 10 years. Through our production arm TAC Studios, we have worked with amazing producers and talent from across Africa to help them create globally accessible content. This festival calls the world's attention to the incredible film and TV content coming out of Africa and is a fabulous opportunity for content creators from the continent to showcase their fine work and be recognised for their efforts."
Discop Market’s general manager Patrick Zuchowicki explains the rationale for this partnership: "We are proud to welcome The Africa Channel as the sponsor of the inaugural edition of The Zanzibar TV Series Festival. The Africa Channel is a veteran Discop delegate and a great supporter of the world's foremost creators of TV series".
During this year’s Ziff, the category for Best African TV Series will be open to any African produced or co-produced and broadcast within the last two years. Three episodes would need to be submitted for consideration via the online application process as below.
Deadline for submission has been extended to 18 April 2018.
Submission procedures
- All submission must be done through Ziff platform.
- A signed and fully completed application submitted by e-mail at zt.ro.ffiz@tpedmlif.
- To be eligible for programming, the entire application MUST be completed and signed.
- The submission deadline is 18 April 2018.
- Freight costs of any film will be borne by the producer.
- Selection results will be available from 15 May 2018 on the Ziff website.
- No DVDs will be returned. They will be kept at Ziff for archival purposes.
- Ziff is committed to preserving the copy of film from any act of piracy and illicit business.
