The Lola Kenya screen audiovisual media initiative for children and youth in eastern Africa is set to be presented at the 1st Broadcast & Film Africa Conference & Exhibition in Nairobi, Kenya, on September 24, 2008.

According to the programme, Lola Kenya Screen, that has in 2008 been presented in Belgium, Germany, and Tanzania, among other venues, will be delivered in a session that will ‘look at case studies from Kenya, Morocco, South Africa and the United Kingdom to see what can be achieved with the right strategy. Through the case studies, it teases out what the role of Government funding can be and how limited resources might best be spent.’

The 3rd Lola Kenya Screen, that ran August 11-16, 2008, equipped 10 children with filmmaking skills, three with programme presentation skills, seven with cultural journalism skills, and  six with analytical skills with which to critically appreciate creativity.

While five short animations were made by the children, six child-friendly documentaries were made by practising filmmakers during Lola Kenya Screen 2008.

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More than 300 films from 56 nations were screened at the Kenya National Theatre, Alliance Francaise and in select video halls in the Kibera informal residential neighbourhood in Nairobi. Presented by ComMattersKenya in conjunction with Goethe-Institut, Lola Kenya Screen 2008 was supported by Africalia of Belgium and the Jan Vrijman Fund/IDFA of Holland.

But perhaps the greatest honour to Lola Kenya Screen was in Little Knowledge is Dangerous, a production made by children in 2007 winning the grand prize at the Kids For Kids competition in Nairobi in August after winning a special jury prize at Jugend Medien Festival Berlin in Germany three months earlier. The films continue on the festival circuit around the world.

The 1st Broadcast & Film Africa Conference, on the theme ‘Broadcast & Film Convergence in the Digital Age’, runs at the Kenyatta International Conference Centre in Nairobi CBD September 23-25, 2008.

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Among the organisations that have confirmed their participation, according to Russell Southwood, the conference programme director, include African Broadcast Network, Kenya Broadcasting Corporation, Kenya Film Commission, Nation TV, Ghana Broadcasting Corporation, GTV, Ghana Telecom (IP-TV), Wide Net, African Telecoms, Media and Technology Fund, Hi-TV, Trend TV, Sonatel Multimedia (VoD TV), Big Ideas Entertainment, Mediae, Discop, Multichoice, Setanta Africa, MTV Networks Africa, Al Jazeera Network, Voice of America, A24 Media, Scopus Video Networks, MediaMerx, BT Media and Broadcast, Globecast, Kenya Data Networks, Broadcast Solutions International, Adobe, Saracen Media, Steadman Group, Southern Africa Direct, Zanzibar International Film Festival, Africalia, UK Film Council, Altech UEC, Canis Media, Southern African Media Development Fund, Standard Group, Skyfire Group, Google, Rwanda TV, Broadcast TV and Film Training Centre, Nigeria Radio, Rancard Solutions, Mobile Planet, Television for the Environment, SuperSport Africa, Digital Development Communications, Earthly Creations, AdGroup, Kass FM, Film Corporation of Kenya, Metro TV, TV3, Joy FM, GT-One Touch, SABC, CTV Tanzania, African Films and Music, Gambia Radio and Television Services, and Multimedia Broadcasting.

A lolakenyascreen.org article