The Political economy of the Film Industry in Tanzania: From Socialism to an Open Market economy, 1961-2010

Abstract

This study examines the film industry in Tanzania from the 1960s to 2010 and assesses how government policies, legislation, and cultural institutions have impacted filmmaking in Tanzania. By employing a critical political economy theoretical framework, the study explores succeeding administrations, from President Julius Kambarage Nyerere (1961-1985) to President Mrisho Jakaya Kikwete (2005-present), and reveals cultural mechanisms governments use in controlling the film industry. Through the use of archival information, interviews, and participant observation, the study reveals that despite the social, cultural, economic, political, and ideological shifts that Tanzania has experienced in moving from socialism to capitalism, each administration, using different mechanisms, has retained a strong hold on the film industry. These administrations in advancing their power and legitimacy established cultural institutions and film policies that saw to it that only government-sanctioned images and cultural values were projected to its citizenry. This study reveals that government institutions such as the Government Film Unit (GFU), the Tanzania Film Company (TFC), the Audio Visual Institute (AVI), the National Film Censorship Board (NFCB), the Film and Stage Play Act of 1976, the Cultural Policy, the Cultural Trust Fund, the Copyright Law of 1999, the Copyright Society of Tanzania (COSOTA), and the Zanzibar International Film Festival (ZIFF) were established as mechanisms to control local cultural products as well as the intrusion of foreign cultural products. The policies, legislation, and cultural institutions gave the government the power to influence the opinion of its citizens by dictating what cultural images and identities were permissible. By examining how policies, institutions, and legislation impacted the film industry, an understanding of how governments manipulate and control the cultural/film sector is critically highlighted and addressed in the hope that an alternative, more diversified perspective will emerge.