Organisers Unveil Date For Igbo Film Festival 2015

IN a bid to help revive the once vibrant Igbo film section of Nollywod, some concerned movie practitioners of Igbo extracted instituted the Nollywood Igbo Film Festival & Award (NIFA), which has become part and parcel of the Nollywood calendar.

     Following the level of success recorded so far, especially in reawakening Igbo film culture, organisers have announced plans for this year’s event tagged Festival of Increase. Billed to hold in Lagos, the event will open on May 8 and runs through May 10, and will honour some outstanding practitioners, who have distinguished themselves in the business of filmmaking.

     Speaking on the event, the founder Harris Chuma said the project is an expression of their firm hope of recording a remarkable increase in the production of Igbo Language movies in the industry.

     “It has been a memorable journey since the inception of Nollywood Igbo Film Festival & Award (NIFA), which debuted in 2011 in Awka, Anambra State. Since that first edition, it has continued to serve as a veritable platform for the celebration of Igbo Language Movies. I want to commend the wonderful co-operation and support of Igbo Language filmmakers, who embraced the new direction; our collective effort has provoked a true rebirth of Igbo Film Industry. Today, I’m proud to announce that Igbo Language films are back in the market,” he said.

   Chuma further stressed that the initiative is a pledge of Igbo film practitioners’ determination to make a substantial improvement in the quantity and quality of their works, as well as improve the infrastructure needed for Igbo Film Industry to stand firm.

    “We therefore urge all and sundry to raise the level of their commitment to, and conviction in Igbo Film production as their creative community. Please, upgrade your contribution to the creative as well as economic growth of this industry of ours,” he said.

     While announcing that the festival planning committee has done well in the various programmes executed so far, Chuma informed that the motive of the project is help put in place a 24hours Igbo Language television on cable network and other satellite platforms, see to the establishment of Nollywood Igbo film viewing centers, strengthen home movies’ distribution structures in Nigeria and sustain the struggle to reduce the menace of piracy.

   “Our dream will surely become reality if we can sustain this laudable project. We are optimistic that Igbo Film Industry will be comparatively and competitively be institutionalized in Nigeria,” he said.

   Meanwhile, the committee is currently receiving both old and new Igbo feature films, short films, documentaries, music video, tv commercials, talk shows and dramas, which will screen at the festival.