Tanzania ends 20-year wait for Oscars award entry

A Tanzanian film has been shortlisted for an Oscars award - ending the country's two-decades wait for an entry in the awards.

Vuta N’kuvute film - Swahili for tug of war - has been shortlisted in the 95th Oscars' Best International Film category.

Released in Swahili and with a majority black cast, the film tells the story of a young Indian-Zanzibari girl whose romance thrives on the back of a political revolt in the dying days of British imperial rule.

"The future for Tanzanian cinema is finally in our hands. A wave of Swahili filmmakers grows with pride, intellect and audacity every day," Amil Shivji, a co-producer of the film, posted on Instagram.

This article originally appeared in BBC News

Photo: Instagram / @amilshivji