Vuta N'Kuvute

Set in 1950s Zanzibar and based on the award-winning Swahili novel by Adam Shafi, Tug of War brings to life a little-known slice of history about the underground movement to win independence for Zanzibar, which was under British rule. Denge, a young Mswahili revolutionary leader trained in the Soviet Union, distributes "Free Zanzibar" pamphlets and recruits people to the cause. One of his recruits is Yasmin, a young Indian-Zanzibari woman who has run away from an arranged marriage, and whose Indian heritage places her in the privileged upper classes of society.

This was more a simple love story and less focused on the details of the political strife that was the basis of for the story. I felt the pacing was a little slow at times, even more so than usual for an independent film. Still, I found the cultural aspects and the principle characters interesting enough to overcome some of the more tedious stretches in the film.

6 stars in my personal rating guide translates to "not riveting, but a worthwhile watch."