Yvonne Jila takes the torch as director of International Images Film Festival for Women (IIFF)

Source: Wildtrack Women Filmmakers of Zimbabwe Newsletter 3rd Edition (November 2011)

Visionary leadership, exceptional management and excellent communication are the lifeblood of any successful organization. These sustain the organization and direct it towards achieving the

vision and the mission. After more than 10 years of directing the only women's film festival South of the Sahara, the International Images Film Festival for Women (IIFF), talented filmmaker cum novelist, IIFF founder Tsitsi Dangarembga has finally passed on the torch. Yvonne Jila becomes the new Festival Director.

Having put structures and systems in place, Dangarembga's dream is to see others carry this tradition to future generation and one way to do this is by bridging the intergenerational gap, through skills impartation.

Born in 1984, Yvonne was born and bred in Bulawayo. She attained her Advanced level at Thekwane High School in 2002 and later moved to Harare where she graduated with a National Diploma in Mass Communication from the Harare Polytechnic in 2006. Yvonne, who is currently in her second year of study in Sociology at the Women's University in Africa holds a diploma in Public Relations and several certificates on proposal writing, reporting, and feminism.

Yvonne joined Women Filmmakers of Zimbabwe in 2008 as a Programmes Assistant and was later promoted to be Programmes Officer before assuming Festival Directorship, a position she currently holds. Her portfolio includes overall management of IIFF, fundraising for the festival, festival reporting and networking among other things. Yvonne strongly believes women can achieve great heights as long as they adopt the –do-it-yourself mentality and do away with the give-it to-me syndrome. IIFF, being the only festival of its calibre in the region that 'combats silent women's cries and helps validate their value as active and creative contributors has managed to create this platform.