In 2003 movie producer, Fidelis Duker decided to host a one
of a kind movie festival in Nigeria. He chose the country’s capital to realise
his dreams and called it Abuja International Film Festival (AIFF). Asides from
the Nigerian Film Festival which held in 2001, Nigeria never knew what film
festivals were. The movie scene in Nigeria was still young and there were only
had a handful of good movies produced at the time. Today, the NFF is defunct
and is still hosted today as the ZUMA movie festival after the popular Abuja
rock.
(more after the cut)
According to Fidelis Duker “The idea for the film festival
just had to come. I had been privileged to have been sponsored to six movie
festivals around the world in just two years. By then, I had seen how festivals
are meant to be done, and I have seen the lapses from the Nigerian Film
festival, so I decided to put heads together with like-minded people. Before
you know it, we had started something. It all started like a roving festival.
We were moving from place to place in Abuja. The idea was to celebrate the
phenomenon called Nollywood. Like you see today, we have been able to achieve
that. Abuja Film Festival is the most respected film festival in Nigeria today
if you as people in the industry world-wide.”
Why a festival? Fidelis Duker over the year is an active
participant at various movie festivals across the globe, and his presence is
more common at the Cannes Film Festival which many Nigerian movie makers also attend.
He had seen first-hand the opportunities that such events can hold and how
movie makers around the world take advantage of such opportunities. The result
was AIFF, which today is the biggest Anglophone film festival in Africa.
The AIFF though highly rated, had had seen some bad years
since it’s existence. There were years where the event was hosted in a truly
world class fashion while some year, it was a pieced together event, which held
just to save face and not break the yearly tradition. The major challenge to
the festival had always been funding. Though it is held in the country’s
capital, the lack of commitment from the federal government to arts and
entertainment meant that most times, the international event come and go year
after year without the government glancing at it’s direction. This year though,
there seem to be some commitment by the president and the Ministry of the
Federal Capital Territory.
Talking about funding over the years Duker says, “Funding is
the key challenge. Bringing to life such an event is cost effective, and you
find out many bodies would want to support but have reservations. But I assure
you that this year’s festival is going to be a very well attendend, well
organised, and rich. The honourable minister for FCT has promised her support
for the festival,” said Fidelis.
Asides from the expected financial support, the president is
also expected to make an appearance at this year’s event. Also expected are Governor
Babangida Aliyu, Senator Victor Ndoma Egba, Chief Rasheed Gbadamosi, Mrs. Onari
Duke, Richard Mofe Damijo, Genevieve. Nnaji, Emeka Ossai, Zeb Ejiro, Abey
Lanre, Sani Muazu and Antar Laniyan among several others.
Asides from
the movie screenings and exhibitions, the festival also give awards to
deserving works across the world. This year is no different. For the Best
feature film(foreign) the nominees are, ‘Storm Warriors’(China), Agnus Dei (Kosovo),
Andalusia my love (Morocco), Sunnyside (Bulgaria), and Sujet (Canada). For Best
Short Film(NIG) Scandalous Thompson, Paradox, Survival, and Ogondah are in
contention. In contention for Best Short Film(Foreign) are; Malice&Pencils
(Uk) , Francois First Day (France), Dock of Destiny (Morocco), Growing Up (Abu
Dhabi). In the Best Documentary Film are; Phoenicians (Malta),Court (Germany),
Rolling Dolla (Nigeria)., Truth Be Told (Nigeria), Daughters of Niger Delta (Nigeria).
The Best Experimental Film have as nominees, Jand Hustle, Dread, and Patroit Games
Other
categories are; Best Animation Film, Best Feature Film (NIG), Outstanding Comic
film, Outstanding Male Act, and the Outstanding Film in Directing. The Golden
Jury award will be chosen from; Brothers Keeper(Nigeria), Next President(Nigeria),
Malice & Pencils(UK), Storm Warriors(China) and The Phoenicians(Malta).
Also there
will be a Special recognition award to ten Nollywood, media and corporate individuals
who have done well for the industry, the festival and their careers. The
awardees will only be revealed at the event.
The event
itself is a four days event. The first day, September 23rd, is the opening
Cocktail hosted by the Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation (NBC). On day 2, there
will be an evening with Kanayo O Kanayo (KOK) at Nanet. The awards and dinner holds
on the third day 25th of September. The final day is the party day.
The event is called the AIFF/AFRIF Disco Party. AFRIF is the (Association
Française pour la Reconnaissance et l'Interprétation des Formes). For short, it
is the French speaking version of AIFF. Through-out the four days, there will
be daily screening of movies and short films, and there will also be
On the whole
AIFF over the years have shown film makers the endless possibilities film
festivals offer. Many producers use them as a viewing platform which allows
them to enter their films for awards. Some premiere their movies there. Young
movie makers also use the platform to display their short films. Today, seeing
the success of AIFF, other film festival has sprung and are equally doing well.
The number of foreign participation has also increased. This year alone, the
number of foreign films received doubled those received last year.
All these
shows how a dream can develop into a reality in just 10 years. For now,
Nigerians especially the government needs to show support for a brand from
Nigeria that is truly international. A festival that celebrates the works of
Nigerians and the people who create them.
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