Understanding Africa through Film
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70 films from 20 countries in 7 days (25 November to 1 December 2013)
ARUSHA, TANZANIA: September 2013
The 2nd Arusha African Film Festival [AAFF 2013] will take place from Friday,29th November to Saturday, 1st December, 2013 at various venues in Arusha. The venues include Mount Meru Hotel, Alliance Francais, New Arusha Hotel and Via Via.
There will also be workshop sessions, seminars, panels, poetry reading, and performance arts from the 25 to 28 November 2013. In all, the film festival events will run from 25 November to 1 December 2013. There will be 70 films from 20 countries shown in 7 days. Over 3,000 people are expected to attend the screenings.
The Arusha African Film Festival is an international platform for the exhibition of films that are Africa-focused. It is also a forum for film education, distribution, marketing and networking. The festival will bring from around the world, filmmakers, actors, producers, commissioning editors, distributors, scholars, poets, performing artists, cinema enthusiasts, students, and the public together for the common purpose of understanding Africa through film. The theme of this year’s festival is “Sociocultural Narratives and Aesthetics of Africa on Film.”
According to Akpor Otebele, the festival director, “the objective of the film festival is to showcase movies from all over world that tell the stories of African peoples in their own way thus fostering the understanding of Africa through film. Africans have vast resources of stories and experiences, and they need cinematic outlets like the Arusha African Film Festival.”
The film festival organized by HAKIKA Entertainment is a sequel to last year’s successful, first ever film festival to be held in Arusha, Tanzania.
Of the 2nd Arusha African Film Festival, Mary Birdi, the festival manager, says “this year, it is bigger and bolder showcasing full-length and short films, documentaries, music videos and student films from Cameroon, Canada, Cuba, Finland, France, Germany, Ghana, Jordan, Italy, Kenya, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, USA, Zambia and Zimbabwe,”says
Some of the award winning films that will be screened include: Nairobi Half Life (Kenya), The Ugandan (Uganda), Aramotu (Nigeria), Ninah’s Dowry(Cameroon/USA), Seasons of a Life (Malawi), From Namibia with Love(Namibia/Finland), Soweto Blues (South Africa), The Gentleman(Zimbabwe), and several Tanzanian films such as Ray of Hope, Super Model,Chungu and Crush.
Nasir Mohamed, the festival coordinator, affirms that “the workshops and seminars will be on the prospects of filmmaking in Africa, youth development, health awareness as well as women empowerment, and how these elements influences socio-economic advancement in our communities.”
The 4-day intensive, hands-on workshop will run from Monday, 25 November to Thursday, 28 November 2013 The theme of the workshop is “Health Awareness and Prevention,” and participants will script, act, direct and produce videos that will be screened on Sunday, 1 December 2013, to honor the World’s AIDS Day. The workshop participants will be drawn from local talents in Arusha and from the East African region. The facilitators and coordinators of the workshop will be film practitioners from the African continent.
The sponsors for this year’s festival include Mount Meru Hotel, The New Arusha Hotel (both hotels supported AAFF, last year), LOGARNET andOJ&T-CNN (both Nigerian organizations that believe in the objectives and mission of AAFF). Alliance Franco-Arusha, Via Via and Wakunga Zamani(an Arusha-based eclectic coral group which partnered with AAFF, last year) are partners of the 2nd Arusha African Film Festival.
Hakika Entertainment, the organizers of the Arusha African Film Festival believe that it is laudable for individuals, corporations, governments, and organizations to support our efforts in making the Arusha African Film Festival, one of the cultural highlights of Arusha, Tanzania, and Africa, as a whole.
“We are still open to sponsorships and partnerships for the 2nd Arusha African Film Festival,” says Mary Birdi.
The key personnel for the Arusha African Film Festival are Akpor Otebele, the festival director, Mary Birdi, festival manager, and Nasir Mohamed, festival coordinator. Malick Sufian and Ally Maukwe serve as AAFF’s publicists, and there are volunteers who are also helping with day-to-day operations. More volunteers are needed.
Akpor Otebele Mary Birdi
Festival Director [AAFF] Festival Manager [AAFF]
+255689393429 +13109204341 +255762469837
Nasir Mohamed www.hakikaentertainment.com
Festival Coordinator [AAFF] www.arushaafricanfilmfestival.com
nassirmo@gmail.com +255719468005 www.facebook.com/arushafricanfilmfestival
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