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Girls voice initiative empowers young female filmmaking

By Murtala Adewale, Kano
04 June 2022   |   2:02 am
Determined to renew social impact on female gender in Nigeria, a non-profit organisation, Girls Voice Initiative, (GVI) opened a networking forum of young talented female filmmakers in Kano.

filmmaking. Photo: RAINDANCE

Determined to renew social impact on female gender in Nigeria, a non-profit organisation, Girls Voice Initiative, (GVI) opened a networking forum of young talented female filmmakers in Kano.

Through its Girl Nation Programme, the initiative is harnessing talent in upcoming female artists and professional groups, to intensify social impact on issues around female gender in Nigeria.

At an open day event held recently, the Executive Director, Girl Voice Initiative, (GVI), Carolyn Seaman said the programme was part of Girl Nation project anchored on building creativity of young practitioners in the filmmaking industry.

She said the intend of the programme is anchored on using films and storytelling to create awareness about women and girl’s rights as well as mobilising community support for the protection of female gender in the society.

The young talents at the open house even were sourced from the maiden edition of the Women’s International Film Festival Nigeria (WIFFEN), held earlier in the year. The festival brought together female filmmakers in Nigeria and around the world to celebrate outstanding female filmmakers and connect for strategic collaborations and collective impact.

While emphasising the significance of using film production to make far-reaching impact in the society, Seaman said beneficiaries of the Girl Nation project would be supported and empowered to produce quality films with compelling stories that can compete with global contents.

“We established the social impact project, targeting young women with technical capacity and empowering them to use skill to promote women and girls issues in the society.

“This year, our target is on filmmakers and associations, coming from the international women’s film festival we had earlier this year to mark the International Women’s Day.

“Now, with the impact of the festival, we decided to start strengthening capacity of our female filmmakers and professional groups particularly women by providing them with technical skills and empowering them on how to use these skills for social impact.

Continuing Seaman said that after the training, the young talents would be producing short films that will be screened and later selected for international convention coming up soon. “Our beneficiaries are coming from different levels but we would have 25 primary female filmmakers in Kano and 25 from Federal Capital Territory (FCT). And at the secondary level we are engaging associations like the creative script’s writers association.

“It was an eye opener to show that women are working actively in the space and they need an environment that will allow them connect, collaborate and access resources available to address some of their challenges especially funding projects.”

She however added that the goal is to build a strong and vibrant community of female filmmakers who are able to connect and navigate through the challenges in their environment.

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