Eight years ago the African International Film Festival, (AFRIFF) a Pan-African festival, was held in Port Harcourt. It is still moving with its vision today. The founder of the event, Chioma Ude, hopes that she can unify both the Nigerian film industry as well as filmmakers around the continent with the event. AFRIFF 2018 has now commenced.
The opening ceremony for AFRIFF 2018 kicked off at the Genesis Deluxe Cinemas in Lagos, Nigeria, on November 10. The Peoples Democratic Party Vice Presidential candidate, Peter Obi, as well as a line up of movie stars, were seen at the opening event. For AFRIFF 2018, the theme is “The Many Faces of Women”. It will, in other words, explore the representation of women in cinema.
The films that were selected to screen during the one-week long event are about 140 in number, fall into the following events:
- Opening Event: 1
- Closing Event: 11
- Short Film Competition: 22
- Short Films (Outside Competition): 31
- Student’s Short Film Competition: 23
- Animation Selection: 8
- Animation (Out of the Selection): 15
- KwaZulu-Natal Film Commision (Special Showcase): 4
- American Embassy Showcase: 1
- French Embassy Showcase: 4
For the next 7 days, the films selected among these groups will screen while competing for a winning position at AFRIFF 2018. Jahmil X.T. Qubeka’s movie, “Sew the Winter to My Skin”, played for 2 hours at the opening. The festival will close with the newly released “Nigerian Prince”, as well as 10 other movies.
Other Events at AFRIFF 2018
French film professionals will be hosting a full day panel discussion during the AFRIFF 2018 festival. They are going to discuss the financing and distribution opportunities, in the hope that it will help the Nigerian movie industry. Other segments of the event will feature talk sessions and forums. Punuka, a Lagos based law firm, will have a talk session to shed light on the legal concerns of the Nigerian entertainment industry.