Harare (Zimbabwe): Paheli (The Riddle), the Shah Rukh Khan – Rani Mukherjee starrer, opened at the ninth Zimbabwe International Film Festival (ZIFF) today at the Libertie Cinema Complex in Avondale Harare. The 10-day event ends on September 3. Rumbi Katedza is the festival director. Films from 40 countries will be screened even at Amakhoshi Theatre and at the National Gallery.

This year ZIFF’s focus is on India and Poland. In the film forum, various master classes, seminars, workshops on animation and new technologies are lined up.The multi choice short film project will be held at Vistarama on September 1. It is a vehicle for Zimbabwean scriptwriters to find an entry point into films.

Documentaries have come from diverse countries as Cameroon , Germany, Kenya, Poland, South Africa, the UK and Zimbabwe. Several award winning documentaries to be screened during the festival tackle universal issues of identity, gender, war and reconciliation and urban culture. Short films, documentaries, animations and features by the Zimbabweans including Anopa Makaka’s Evil In Our Midst, Roger Hawkins’ The Silent Fall and Charles Mudede’s Police Beat will be celebrated in the Calabash programme.

Sunsleey Chamunorwa (Editor of The Financial Gazette), renowned choreographer and woman filmmaker Soukaina Edom and ZTV’s Benson Mufunde are the three-member jury in the feature film competion.