…As French Embassy, British Council launch exchange programmes
Organisers of Africa International Film Festival (AFRIFF) have announced the return of the festival for 2017.
The stars come out for AFRIFF 2017
The Africa International Film Festival (AFRIFF,) the biggest film gathering this side of the Atlantic, kick-started its 7th Season in spectacular style, at a ceremony heavy on star wattage, Sunday night, at the Genesis Deluxe Cinemas, The Palms, Lekki, Lagos.
This year, there was a double dose of films, as the opening night selection consisted of one short film, ‘Waiting for Hassana’, an ode to the missing Chibok girls, abducted from their secondary school in 2014, directed by Ifunanya Maduka, and the Zambian entry, ‘I am not a Witch’, helmed by Rungano Nyoni. Both films were selected on the strength of their merits, as they highlight important topical social issues relating to African children.
Kemi Lala Akindoju, Wale Ojo, Uche Jombo, Linda Ejiofor, Hilda Dokubo and Funlola Aofiyebi-Raimi were some of the A-list stars who made their appearance on the red carpet.
Others dignitaries include filmmakers and film entrepreneurs such as Biola Alabi, Peace Anyiam-Osigwe, Fred Amata, Zick Zulu Okafor, Kunle Afolayan, CJ Obasi, Belinda Yanga, Kenneth Uphopho, as well as media personalities like Shaibu Husseini and Ameyaw Debrah from Ghana.
Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, who welcomed all delegates to the festival, expressed his administration’s willingness to support the creative industry through grants, tax breaks and funding opportunities.
He said: “I will re-iterate a few of the initiatives we are pursuing:
“We are pushing for a single-digit interest on loans for infrastructural developments for the Industry. We are supporting the building of 100 community cinemas to be evenly spread across the country. We are close to having world-class pre- and post-production facility using the current NTA infrastructure with a few additions. We want to ensure that in the focus on studio facilities, we ensure that one is located in every geo-political zone of the country. And on the back of the DIGITAL SWITCH-OVER of our television, we are ensuring that the set top boxes are enabled to allow our 24 million TV households to buy our movies with and without the need of data. This way, the home goes digital!”
It was a night of great promises for AFRIFF and the Nigerian film industry, as Managing Director of Access Bank, Mr. Herbert Wigwe, whose bank returns as lead sponsor of the festival, pledged more support for filmmakers, especially through the AFRIFF/Accelerate Filmmakers Project, an initiative set up to help burgeoning filmmakers to nurture their ideas. Wigwe, who is also the patron of AFRIFF, stressed the importance of film as a powerful tool for Africans to tell their stories, different from the usual story of poverty, often projected by the Western media.
Representing the Governor of Lagos state, Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr. Steve Ayorinde, welcomed delegates to the centre of excellence and positioned AFRIFF as ‘’one of the leading creative platforms in Africa that has been consistent, truly awe inspiring and which has found the Lagos arty landscape compatible with its own vision.’’
Introducing the opening night films, former governor of Akwa Ibom state and current Senate Minority Leader, Senator Godswill Akpabio gave a lengthy account of his efforts to bring the exaggerated problem of witchcraft, associated to children in the state to an end. According to Akpabio, his administration had succeeded through education, convictions and rehabilitation in halting the dangerous trend.
Also speaking at the event, French Consul General, Lagos, Mr. Laurent Polonceaux said; “This is a great opportunity for us because this is the first time that the French government is involved with Africa. We will be having two days at the festival for French films, with possibility of co-production with Nigeria and Africa.” He noted that it was good that the festival will be closing with the French film, ‘Felicite’, and disclosed that arrangement has been made to have about 70 film students for further training in France as an exchange programme with AFRIFF.
The Africa International Film Festival is an annual week-long, all-encompassing world class showcase running from October 29 to November 4, 2017.
About 200 carefully curated feature length, short, documentary and student films will be screened this year. The festival also encompasses talent development classes, industry workshops and inspiring creative discussions.
Scheduled to run from October 29 to November 4, 2017, the annual event marks AFRIFF’s 7th season of celebrating African cinema in Nigeria.
At a glitzy media launch which took place at British Council, Ikoyi, Lagos, Tuesday night, the atmosphere tells of how eager industry players are, for another week of cinematic experience, business networking, movie premieres, film screenings, industry sessions, master classes, workshops, the Globe Awards, and other events that have become the hallmark of the AFRIFF journey since it made debut in 2010.
It is a season of international collaborations for AFRIFF with the French government coming in to strengthen its commercial and artistic exchanges with Nigeria.
“The importance of AFRIFF, that is growing year after year, is a wonderful showcase for us,” says French Consul General, Lagos, Mr.. Laurent Polonceaux, who described the annual event as “one of the most important film festivals in Africa.”
Interestingly, AFRIFF 2017 is dedicating two days – November 2-3, 2017 to French films
This is just as British Council, UK’s international organisation for cultural relations and educational opportunities is bringing the London BFI (British Film Institute) into a new partnership with AFRIFF.
Tagged ‘Film Connections’, the British Council’s partnership also aims to share knowledge and give pep to co-production opportunities between filmmakers from Nigeria and the United Kingdom.
AFRIFF Founder/Executive Director Ms. Chioma Ude announced ‘Waiting for Hassana’, a short film by Ifunanya ‘funa’ Maduka (Nigeria/US) and a feature, ‘I Am Not a Witch’ by Rungano Nyoni (Zambia) as the opening night films while ‘Felicite’, an Oscar contender by Alain Gomis (France/Senegal) is the closing night film.
Ude said AFRIFF is well prepared to host filmmakers and actors from around the world this year, noting that the festival continues to attract interests with a record of 3,232 film entries received this year alone.
She announced the films in competition which include 24 shorts, 11 documentaries and 14 feature length films, while all the films in official selection will be uploaded to the festival website on October 9.
According to British Council Head of Arts, West Africa, Ojoma Ochai, “As part of the Film Connections project, the 2017 AFRIFF will open with the screening of the Rungano Nyoni film ‘I Am Not a Witch’, on the 29th of October. There will also be screening of several acclaimed British feature and short films during the festival – showing for the first time in Nigeria, including ‘Whitney ‘Can I Be Me’ by multi-award winning British Documentarian, Nick Broomfield; ‘Under the Shadow’ by Babak Anvari, winner of the 2017 BAFTA award for outstanding debut by a British writer, director or producer; and ‘A Moving Image’ by Shola Amoo.”
“During the two days devoted to French cinema,” says Polonceaux, “we will welcome here in Lagos, high level professionals working in the production and distribution, and last but not the least, because it is a fundamental element in the funding of the cinema industry, I particularly would like to mention the participation of David Kessler, the Managing Director of Studio Orange and the Director of Orange Content. He’s a leading figure in the French cinema industry. He was among other important positions, the former director of the CNC.”
He noted that, for the first time in France, “two Nollywood movies (The Dinner and 10 Days in Sun City) have been commercially released two weeks ago. That’s a first step, but I am sure it will intensify in the coming years.”
The five French movies that will be screened during AFRIFF include ‘Step by Step’, an emotional movie about the physical reconstruction of a man after a serious accident; ‘Wulu’, a Franco-Malian film, ‘Boarders’, a road-trip between Bamako and Lagos; French Blockbuster ‘Valerian’ by Luc Besson, and ‘He Even Has Your Eyes’, the story of Paul and Sali, a married couple who have been struggling to adopt a child for a long time.
Photos: Adeolu Adeniyi
