Students to participate in continental film festival

Organisers of the meet said more than 200 entries have so far been received but opportunities would be given students who are under training to participate.The Africa International Film Festival (AFRIFF) stated this last week while challenging film students of the National Film Institute (NFI) in Jos to strive for perfection in movie production.Founded in […]

Organisers of the meet said more than 200 entries have so far been received but opportunities would be given students who are under training to participate.
The Africa International Film Festival (AFRIFF) stated this last week while challenging film students of the National Film Institute (NFI) in Jos to strive for perfection in movie production.
Founded in 2009, the Africa International Film Festival creates platforms for the world to zoom in on the diversity and creativity of Africa through motion pictures.
Speaking to students at the auditorium of the institute in Jos on the theme “Africa Unite”, representative of AFRIFF, Mr. Ikenna Ezenyirioha said the inaugural film festival scheduled to hold in Port Harcourt from December 1-5th this year would serve to address the issue of quality production and will also be a networking platform for film producers, directors, actors and actresses from all over the world to exchange ideas and begin partnership.
Ezenyirioha said AFRIFF is partnering with the Rivers state government to hold the festival stressing that the idea behind festival is to make people look beyond the mono economy culture of Nigeria.  “We have to shift from depending solely on oil because the film industry can also earn foreign currency for the country,” he said.
President of the Motion Pictures Practitioners Association of Nigeria (MOPPAN) Alhaji Sani Mu’azu who was at the lecture, called on the students not to limit their productivity but strive hard to become makers of qualitative films and features that the world would reckon with. He said the major problems militating against quality production of films was the lack of funds which he said has made film producers to go into production with virtually zero budgets. Other problems he said include lack of modern and up to date equipments, outdated studios and other production materials.
Edward Ossai, Head of Planning of NFI stressed the need for film education and thanked  AFRIFF for introducing the film festival as it would go a long way in providing networking opportunities for the students so they can compete with their contemporaries in the world.
The lecture was organized by AFRIFF to expose NFI students to wide ranging aspects of film making and other challenges facing film makers in Africa.  Top representatives from the University of Jos, the Nigerian Film Corporation, Zuma film festival as well as other private film makers were in attendance.  At the end of the presentation the guests was treated to a play by the students at the open air theater of the institute.
The festival is in the tradition of the likes of the Cannes Film Festival and the Toronto International Film Festival uniting film makers from across the world on the African soil.  It will hold yearly in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria hosting both local and international film-makers, celebrities, actors, directors, film buyers, distributors, visual artists, film students, amateurs, film lovers and the media.