Harare — THE International Images for Women Festival opened last Friday with Reliable System, the highlight of the evening.

Running under the theme "Transforming Women" the official opening was held at the 7 Arts Theatre with celebrities and invited guests coming in from 6pm.

Among the celebrities was woman filmmaker Tsitsi Dangarembga and the guest of honour a woman filmmaker from Zambia Joy Kimeniah.

To kick-start the show was a performance from renowned Poet Cynthia Marangwanda who gave a preamble of what has happened over the eight years that IIFF has been running.

The guest of honour Joy Kimeniah enlightened the audiences on the successes of the festival over the years.

"As a woman from Zambia and as an African woman, the IIFF has made me proud to be who I am.

"I have learned a lot from the workshops and from the films that have been showcased.

"This being the 8th edition I still hope to learn more", she said.

She also highlighted the considerable contribution that Tsitsi Dangarembga had put in making all the eight editions of the IIFF a success.

Guests also had an opportunity to view the opening film -- Reliable system -- from Poland.

The film is about a woman called Maria who lost everything during World War II.

Other films that have been shown to date include Nothing, Skin and Sunshine Cleaning and Sunday, which were shown at Elite 100.

The film festival is running until Saturday in Harare and from December 3 to 5 in Bulawayo. The screenings are for free.