As part of its developmental agenda for the film sector in Nigeria, the Africa International Film Festival, AFRIFF, has concluded plans to take 10 Nigerian students to the United States for practical training in various aspects of film making.
Founder/CEO of the festival, Ms Chioma Ude, disclosed this, revealing that the top 10 students who emerge during the AFRIFF organised training workshops which will hold during this year’s festival will be eligible for the sponsorship.
Speaking at her Victoria Island office recently, Ude said that the training in America is planned as a reward scheme for these meritorious film students.
According to her, the scholarship will cover the attendance of a short film course at a prestigious American university. Ude, who said the project is a collaborative effort with a key partner, added that the aspects of film making to be taught at the workshops this year will include acting, script writing, directing and cinematography.
This year’s edition of the festival will hold from Sunday, November 9 to November 16, 2014 at the Tinapa Business and Leisure Resort, Calabar, Cross River State. Organisers say interested candidates for this year’s workshops should register at the new AFRIFF website, www.afriff.com as only registered candidates will be eligible for short listing for the workshops.
Registration for participation in all aspects at the festival begins from Monday, September 14, 2014. According to Ude, this skill acquisition and youth development initiative was conceived using film making as a veritable vehicle for youth empowerment.
Ude noted that the planned US training is in line with the vision of providing growth opportunities for graduates of the festival’s training programme.
“AFRIFF has since its first edition in 2010, provided free training and talent development opportunities for young people and aspiring film-makers. We have provided ground-breaking education in Sound for Film, Cinematography and Screen writing for over 500 students. This we have done in partnership with Sound & Motion Technical College and City Varsity, Cape Town, South Africa. We have also worked directly with students of the National Film Institute, Jos; the Creative Arts Department of University of Port Harcourt; PEFTI Film Institute, Lagos, as well as other aspiring young film makers. ‘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 sets to the abundant talents in our film community.”
AFRIFF 2014 team is currently resourcing for this year’s talent development training workshops in association with top industry partners who will also be announced later.
The beneficiaries 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 student’s short category for the subsequent AFRIFF 2015 edition.
