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AFRIFF Students Head For USA On Scholarship

By by Chuks Nwanne
27 June 2015   |   2:54 am
For being the best in their chosen fields of training at the last year’s edition of Talent Development Workshops organised by the Africa International Film Festival (FRIFF), 15 scholarship recipients among the students recently said goodbye to friends and family members before heading for Film School at the Montana State University, United States of America.…

AFRIFFFor being the best in their chosen fields of training at the last year’s edition of Talent Development Workshops organised by the Africa International Film Festival (FRIFF), 15 scholarship recipients among the students recently said goodbye to friends and family members before heading for Film School at the Montana State University, United States of America.

The Ford Foundation, in collaboration with The Africa International Film Festival (AFRIFF), provided scholarships to the exceptional students, which provides them the opportunity to further their training abroad. The list of recipients includes 12 Nigerians, two Kenyans and one Ethiopian.

Speaking at a media parley held recently in Lagos to announce their trip, Ford Foundation’s Program Officer for Advancing Public Service Media (West Africa) Prof. Paul Nwulu informed that the scholarship scheme is a one-month intensive hands-on training camp on various aspects of filmmaking, with an emphasis on documentary filmmaking.

“There will be six days each week of classes, which will include intensive field work and hands-on training. A trip to Hollywood in Los Angeles will crown this trip with interactions billed to happen with American filmmakers and a tour of certain film studios slated to take place as well,” he said.

On her part, Founder/CEO of AFRIFF, Ms Chioma Ude explained that the Talent Development Workshops is a skill acquisition and youth development initiative designed to use filmmaking as an authentic vehicle for youth empowerment, as well as provide beginners and intermediate courses for young people.

“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.”

Ude noted that this training in the US is in line with the vision of providing growth opportunities for graduates of the festival’s training program.

Since its first edition in 2010, AFRIFF has provided free training and talent development opportunities for young people and aspiring filmmakers. Though a film festival, the yearly event also provides cutting edge education in sound for film, cinematography and Screen Writing for over 500 students, in partnership with Sound & Motion Technical College and City Varsity, Cape Town, South Africa.

The organisation have also worked directly with students of the National Film Institute, Jos; PEFTI Film Institute, Lagos; the Creative Arts Department at The University of Port-Harcourt; Department of Media & Theatre Arts at The University of Calabar and The Theatre Arts Department of The University of Uyo in the initiative. The Desicon Group was the 2014 sponsor of the AFRIFF Talent Development Workshops.

The Africa International Film Festival (AFRIFF) conceived by Chioma Ude is a world class showcase that presents a complete immersion into the world of film making with participation from local and international, actors, directors, scriptwriters, cinematographers, sound engineers, musicians, editors, light engineers, students, equipment manufacturers and businessmen.

The objectives are to develop the film industry to a level where the products compete favorably with their contemporaries all over the world; provide a growth opportunity for these film industry professionals to eventually export their products to the world; facilitate access to investors, equipment, technical and skill acquisition through Festival organized fora and several capacity development workshops; and complement government’s efforts at revamping small and medium scale enterprises (SMEs).

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