Abuja International Filmfest gets a November date

The 15th edition of the Abuja International Film Festival earlier scheduled to hold at the Silverbird Cinemas in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) this month would now hold between November 26 and 28, the organisers have said.

Festival Director and Chairman of the Festival Committee, Temitope Duker, said in a press statement that the shift in dates was as a result of logistics reasons and fine-tuning arrangements for a memorable anniversary celebration of the festival.

Duker hinted that a total of 4,357 entries were received from 46 countries, of which the College of Screeners, drawn from around the world, has been able to arrive at the list of nominees.

The list of nominees was released yesterday, while the theme is, ‘Diversity in Filmmaking: The Nollywood Example.’

This year’s edition would feature capacity building trainings and workshop for upcoming and aspiring actors in the areas of acting, costume/make designs and script development.

“These trainings will be facilitated by some of the best names in film and television in Nollywood, like Segun Arinze, Francis Duru, Iyen Agbonifo, Bond Emeruwa and Andy Amenechi, amongst others,” she said, adding that as part of the 15th anniversary celebration, special recognition awards would also be conferred on some eminent Nigerians and organisations that have in one way or the other supported the industry or the nation, based on the theme of the festival.

She disclosed that 4375 films would be featuring this year in different genre, which is unprecedented for an African film festival and an improvement from last year.

“Not only are we excited by the number of entries and the expected presence of more local and international film and media exhibitors at this festival this year, we are also excited that sustainability is no more an issue with the festival, as it has come to stay and remains the flagship of festivals in Nigeria and West Africa,” she said.