19th International Youth Media Summit (IYMS)

Over the past 18 years, 1,600 change-makers from 76 countries have participated in the IYMS Summit and created 126 short films, with one common goal: to tackle global issues and take action against them by implementing grassroots initiatives in different corners of the world.

For two weeks, the delegates work in seven film production teams. Each team focuses on a different urgent social problem: Discrimination, Environment, Health, Poverty, Violence, Women’s Rights, and Youth Empowerment. The teams meet to share how their core issue impacts their communities back home. With the help of an issue expert, they explore causes and solutions. Experienced professionals help them develop their stories and then production begins.

Our end products? Seven short films that deliver strong and powerful messages to raise awareness of these issues. The world urgently needs these efforts to advance in gender equality, social justice and take immediate action to limit climate disasters.

IYMS serves as a remarkable platform for peaceful collaboration among individuals from diverse cultures, religions, and backgrounds. During the Summit, the delegates form global partnerships and lifelong friendships while working together towards a shared objective.

After the Summit, our delegates set about the work of expanding their network of young storytellers and change-makers around the world. In workshops they organize in their communities, the delegates use their short films, along with Tool Kits for Action, to help others understand the issues and explore actions that can make a difference. 

We are so excited to welcome you to IYMS 2024!

IYMS is a creative place where you will learn basic and advanced filmmaking and storytelling. You will learn how to make your message strong and powerful and how to tell a story in an effective way by making a short film with a strong message. IYMS is also a platform where you will find friends and partners across the globe to collaborate with, sharing your experiences and skills. It is a place for joy and commitments together with so many changemakers. Then, you will go back home and have new tools for your daily life as a changemaker. And you will have a great worldwide network to communicate with.

We want you to join that community!  Coming together in Zanzibar in 2024, 100 delegates from around the world will use their talents and determination to produce compelling films.  Be one of them. While working to inspire change in the world, you might also inspire change within yourself, joining others who say, “This experience changed my life.”

A Historic Year for IYMS in Africa, Embracing Our Shared Ancestry

Honoring the last year of the UN’s International Decade for People of African Descent

When celebrating the contributions that came from the continent of Africa, we would include the use of fire, the first tools, astronomy, jewelry, fishing, mathematics, crops, art, use of pigments, and animal domestication.

But we can all take part in that celebration. Scientific evidence suggests that all modern humans are descended from an African population of Homo sapiens that spread out from Africa about 60,000 years ago. We therefore would like all of our delegates to embrace their common ancestry as “people of African Descent”, and in our time together learn more about the continent that gave birth to human civilization.

Zanzibar is throwing open its doors to welcome the family home.

About ZIFF

The Zanzibar International Film Festival (ZIFF), also known as Festival of the Dhow Countries, is an annual film festival held in Zanzibar, Tanzania and one of the largest cultural events in East Africa. ZIFF is a non-governmental organization established in 1997 to develop and promote film and other cultural industries as a catalyst for the regional social and economic growth.

About ZAIF

ZAIF is a modern African training platform that works with storytelling through film. It was established in Zanzibar by the film and arts community in 2019 as a training and networking organization dedicated to developing creative talent, professionalizing filmmaking and connecting the industry in East Africa to the world.

The Teen International Media Exchange

The Teen International Media Exchange (TIME) is a Los Angeles-based nonprofit organization created after the events of 9/11 to help young people from different countries bridge cultural, ethnic and religious divides by collaborating on film projects that reflected concerns about their lives.  Founded in the fall of 2001, TIME organized two in-country exchanges with So. Korea and Belize, and dozens of online projects with Scotland, Afghanistan, Armenia, Israel and Palestine.  TIME founded the International Youth Media Summit in 2006 and hosted the first and ninth Summits in Southern California.

Where: Stone Town, Zanzibar, Tanzania

Stone Town of Zanzibar, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is a fine example of the Swahili coastal trading towns of East Africa. It retains its urban fabric and townscape virtually intact and contains many fine buildings that reflect its particular culture, which has brought together and homogenized disparate elements of the cultures of Africa, the Arab region, India, and Europe over more than a millennium.

ZIFF keeps alive the culture of Stone Town. Supporting IYMS means Finding Identity with the World!

Zanzibar African Youth Arts Festival (ZAYAF) is a celebration of young African talent, dedicated to advancing gender equality, social justice, and combating climate change. Aligned with the 2024 IYMS Summit theme, we honour the final year of the UN’s International Decade for People of African Descent by providing a platform for young Africans to impact the future.

The festival promises 2 amazing days of music performances, captivating dance showcases, thought-provoking art exhibitions, and a vibrant fashion show, all presented by talented African artists. Delegates also have the opportunity to participate in enriching art and dance classes, fostering creative skills and cultural exchange.