Adiaha means first daughter in the Ibibio language of the Akwa Ibom State in Nigeria, not only will the winner be the first daughter of African documentary filmmaking, but she will also go home with $2 000 cash, an Adiaha Statue, and a certificate of award.

The award has been created and sponsored by Edima Otuokon of OMESS (Nigeria) and Lara Preston of Red Flag (South Africa), both entrepreneurial women who have been involved in the film industry for many years, and who are also actively involved in ZIFF. Recognising a gap within the awards at the festival, Otuokon and Preston aim to raise the profile on documentary filmmaking on the continent, and more specifically to ensure that more female filmmakers all over Africa get involved in the development of documentaries.

In this the 20th anniversary edition of ZIFF, it is hoped that more female filmmakers than ever will submit films into the general competition, as well as in this special category. The deadline for submission is Wednesday, 15 March. You can enter here

For more information, visit www.ziff.or.tz. Alternatively, connect with them on Facebook.