International filmmakers, others set for IREP film festival

The fifth iREPRESENT International Documentary Film Festival starts on Thursday with filmmakers from across the world set to make it a memorable outing.

INTERNATIONAL and Nigerian filmmakers will converge on Freedom Park, Broad Street, Lagos Island from Thursday, March 19 to Sunday, March 22 for this year’s edition of the iREPRESENT International Documentary Film Festival.

Conceived and organized by the iRepresent Documentary Film Forum, an AFFILIATE of the West African Documentary Film Forum (WDFF), and the Documentary Network Africa (DNA), the festival is themed ‘Reinventing Documentary Filmmaking in a Digital Space’

Some of the foreign filmmakers that will be at the four-day forum featuring film screenings, trainings, seminars, producers’ roundtable and conversations include Cameroonian/French documentary filmmaker, Jean Marie Teno, Britain’s  Alan Channer,  Anja Gobel from Germany,  Gabon’s Imunga Ivanga and Niyi Coker Jr. from the US.

Films that will be screened at the festival include ‘Chameleon’; ‘Love is All’;  ‘Poverty Inc’; ‘Unforgiven’; ‘Olu Amoda: A Metallic Journey’; ‘Skyfall’;  ‘A Leaf in the Wind’; ‘Scarred: Anatomy of a Massacre’;  ‘Comrades in Dream’; ‘Deeper Than Black’; ‘The Supreme Price’;’ Unbroken: The John Sunmonu Story’ and ‘When I Was Water’ among others.

The films were curated by the iREP directorate in collaboration with its partners -the US-based African World Documentary Film Festival (AWDFF); the Germany-based Association of Documentary film makers (Ag-Dok) and the British Council, which is supporting the festival for the first time this year.

Organizers disclosed that panel discussions will hold daily with ‘New Values for Audience Development in a Digital Space’ by Mr. John Ugbe, Managing Director of Multichoice Nigeria Limited; and ‘Creative Intentions in the Age of Digital Mass Media’ by Mr. Wehinmi Atigbi, the CEO of M2DC Limited happening on day one.

‘Digital Documentary & Citizen Journalism: the Security Imperative’ will be the first topic of discussion on the second day. It will feature Prof. Femi Shaka of UNIPORT, Prof. Hyginus

Ekwuazi of UI, Dr Friday Nwafor of UNIPORT and veteran filmmaker and photographer, Tam Fiofori as panellists.

Secretary General of the Committee for Relevant Art (CORA), Toyin Akinosho will moderate the second discussion titled ‘Digital Broadcasting and future of African Democracies’. The founder of Afrinolly film project, Chike Maduegbuna; chief executive of R2TV, Mr.

Gregory Odutayo; the filmmaker-activist Francis Onwochei and Martin Mabutho of Multichoice Nigeria will be the panellists.

‘Documentary Filmmaking & Conflict Resolution’ to be addressed by Alan Channer and ‘Women in Film- Pushing the Boundaries in the Digital Era’ to be moderated by producer/director of ‘Unbroken’, Mrs Toyin Poju-Oyemade will be discussed on the third day.  Female filmmakers including Mildred Okwo, Tope Oshin-Ogun, Grace Edwin-Okon, Emem Isong and veteran actress Joke Silva will join Poju-Oyemade to discuss the topic.

The last discussion also doubles as the Art Stampede jointly organized by CORA and IREP. Themed ‘Digital Broadcasting & Challenges of Artistic Freedom’, it will be moderated by Deji Toye while Prof. Awam Amkpa of New York University will deliver the keynote. Panellists include Victor Okhai, Ropo Ewenla and Prof. Niyi Coker.

Preceding all this will be the anniversary cocktail and reception featuring a red carpet with a jazz band performing. There will also be a brief keynote on the journey of iREP Film festival so far by Prof. Coker, goodwill messages by Mrs. Wangi Mba-Uzoukwu, Regional director of MNET West Africa, and  conferment of iREP Excellence Awards on individuals and organizations that have been instrumental to its story since inception. There will also be poetry and musical performances by the singer-guitarist, Aduke.  Source: tribune.com.ng