Amil Shivji is an award-winning Tanzanian filmmaker who believes in using images to deconstruct urban facades of development and emphasize strength & struggles of marginalized communities. He has an MFA from York University, is a Berlinale Talent Alumni and founding member of the East African Screen Collective. His feature, Vuta N’Kuvute (Tug of War) is a story of love and resistance in British-colonial Zanzibar, premiering at TIFF’21, winning top prizes at FESPACO’21, Seattle, Carthage and is Tanzania’s second ever submission to the Oscars®. He produced The Empty Grave, which premiered at Berlinale ’24, and played in over fifty cinemas in Germany.