4th AFRIFF: 250 movie buffs register in first week

 

Chioma Ude

There are indications that the record of attendees for this year’s Africa International Film Festival (AFRIFF) will surpass that of previous editions, with 250 applications already received within the first week of registration.

Feelers from the festival secretariat has it that the ongoing registration exercise has recorded an impressive number of requests from filmmakers in Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana, Cameroon, South Africa, Senegal, Mali, Malawi, Uganda and several other African countries.

Reports say the pack received so far also includes requests from Africans in the Diaspora as well as individual filmmakers and film companies in Europe, United Kingdom, United States and Canada.

For the festival which is in its fourth year, the success story is unprecedented, even as organisers say the best is yet to come.

Since its first edition in 2010, AFRIFF has provided free training and talent development opportunities for young people and aspiring filmmakers. Interestingly, another aspect of this year’s edition which has swelled traffic on the festival’s website is the hands on training and workshop on scriptwriting, cinematography, acting and directing for aspiring filmmakers in Africa.

Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of AFRIFF, Chioma Ude, noted that from this workshop, AFRIFF is planning to take 10 students to a prestigious university in the United States of America for further training in various aspects of filmmaking. She explained that through this initiative and several others, the festival plans to change the economic horizon of the African film industry.

“We believe we can use this model for a social revolution that will change the economic horizon of the African film industry, by providing technical knowledge and skill to enhance the abundant talents in our film community,” she said.

This time, beneficiaries of the training will be expected to shoot a short film after their course abroad, in fulfillment of their training billed to be entered into the festival’s students’ short category for the subsequent AFRIFF in 2015, Ude added.

According to the festival guidelines, registration for the workshops which opened at the new AFRIFF website, www.afriff.com on September 15, will close on October 17, while general registration will end on October 31.

AFRIFF 2014 is scheduled to take place at the popular Tinapa Business and Leisure Resort, Calabar, Cross River State from November 9 to 16.