Multiple award-winning UK-based Nigerian filmmaker, Mr Obi Emelonye, has highlighted the importance of film festivals to move producers.
In a chat with CNN, the filmmaker said film festivals are “hugely important” because they play a significant role in the career of filmmakers.
“I think one other thing that film festivals, just like awards ceremonies, have done is to elevate filmmaking to just rise above commercialism,” Mr Emelonye.
The producer of Last Flight to Abuja, which featured Omotola Jalade-Ekeinde, spoke highly of how one of his new flicks, Out of Breath, was the closing film for the Africa International Film Festival (AFRIFF) in Lagos.
“It’s a huge profile that can be stepped upon for greater things for the film,” the former professional footballer and lawyer-turned filmmaker said on CNN’s Africa Avant Garde.
He welcomed the new interest in critical acclaim, noting that filmmakers are aspiring not just to make money but to have those accolades as part of their growth to get to bigger things.
The founder of AFRIFF, Ms Chioma Ude, explained how her film festival benefits stakeholders in the movie industry in Africa.
“To just film lovers, it’s a place where they go in and watch films; to young people who want to be associated with stars, it’s a place where they can actually go see them; and for filmmakers that need to partner, to learn, it’s a great place for learning.”
She noted that the most important aspect of the week-long event, which screened 150 films, was “having the filmmakers show their films to the rest of the world, the people that are there, and showing the film, taking the bow at the end, and talking about your experience.”