The organizers of the Africa International Film Festival (AFRIFF) announced on Thursday that the 12th edition of the festival is scheduled to take place from November 5 to November 11, 2023.
During a media briefing held in Lagos, Chioma Ude, the founder of AFRIFF, unveiled the festival’s theme, “Indigenous to Global 2.0”, emphasizing its primary objective of showcasing and advancing indigenous content on a global scale.
Chioma Ude also revealed that the festival has already curated an impressive selection of 1,000 high-quality films to be showcased throughout the event. This diverse collection of films is expected to captivate and engage the festival’s audience while highlighting the rich nature of storytelling from Africa and beyond.
She said,
“This edition of the festival is important because creatives would be exposed to series of learning, cutting across filmmaking, makeup act, designers and more.
“We need to understand international policies and laws to be able to sell our indigenous content globally.”
The Consul General at the United States Consulate in Lagos, Will Stevens, also spoke on the previous edition saying,
“I am grateful to be here, the festival last year was so incredible, I’m looking forward to this year’s edition.
“This is all about building Nigeria for the world, America grew based on what people see about the nation and I think it is now Nigeria’s time.
“It has been amazing supporting AFRIFF for 9 years now in a row and we are grateful for the partnership.”
Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State, in his statement, conveyed the state’s eagerness and preparedness to collaborate with the AFRIFF organizers to ensure a smooth and prosperous festival.
He emphasized that the upcoming 12th edition of AFRIFF is poised to be the most extensive and impactful thus far. It will be strategically positioned to align with and contribute to the economic objectives and priorities of the state.
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He said,
“We are excited to be part of this, we believe that it is when we tell our stories that we are better understood and well embraced.
“As government, we commit our resources and time to whatever that has to put the state and nation’s creative industry on the global stage.
“This is the time to work collaboratively to project our indigenous content for global acceptance.
“The creative industry is the only industry that can flog all the shortfalls that we have, an industry that knows no boundary.”
Busola Tejumola, the Executive Head of Content West Africa Channels at MultiChoice Nigeria, discussed Multichoice’s role in promoting indigenous content, highlighting the company’s remarkable journey.
As Multichoice celebrates its 20th anniversary, she emphasized the company’s growth, which has expanded from a single channel to an impressive seven channels.
Busola Tejumola further underscored that out of these seven channels, three are dedicated to showcasing local content in indigenous languages, including Yoruba, Igbo, and Hausa. This commitment to supporting and broadcasting content in these native languages reflects Multichoice’s dedication to cultural diversity and its role in nurturing and promoting storytelling in Nigeria and across West Africa.
She stated,
“We also have MultiChoice talent factory where we engage the up-and-coming artistes in training, this is in collaboration with the Pan Atlantic University and we usually produce excellent filmmakers who can tell authentic African stories.
“We equally recognise and reward excellence through the Africa Magic Viewers Choice Awards (AMVCA),”
A Nigerian filmmaker, Femi Adebayo said,
“As a custodian and promoter of our culture, all my films are indigenous and have got global attention, we can only make our future better when we promote our local content more. We need this to take over the global film market.”
