By Ogova Ondego
Published June 14, 2013
Filmmakers in Africa have till July 30, 2013 to submit their work to the 3rd Africa International Film Festival (AFRIFF) that is set for November 10-17, 2013 in Calabar, Cross River State, Nigeria.
Chioma Ude, Founder and Director of AFRIFF, says films submitted to the festival will compete for US$2,000-US$6,000 cash prizes in four categories–Fiction, Documentary, Animation, Shorts–and that “the awards for excellence in the four film categories at AFRIFF have been increased from five to 11.
The awards structure is from 2013 starting to give prizes to “Best Fiction Film, Best Screenplay, Best Director, Best Actor and Best Actress under the Fiction Film category while the Documentary and Animation categories will offer awards for Best Documentary and Best Animation, respectively. The Short Film, on the other hand, is now offering two awards: Best Short Film and Best Student Short Film,” Ude says. “The latter is a new award created as an incentive to students and young filmmakers aimed at recognising and encouraging their creative expressions.”
A new prize, the Special Jury Award, has also been created and will be given to the producer of “the most outstanding film, cutting across all the categories of the movies submitted”.
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The Audience Choice Award is to be given to “the producer of the movie voted as the most liked by viewers”.
Ude says film application forms are available for downloading from africafilmfest.org till July 30, 2013.
She says she conceived AFRIFF as “a world class showcase that presents a complete immersion into the world of filmmaking with participation from local and international actors, directors, scriptwriters, cinematographers, sound engineers, musicians, editors, light engineers, students, equipment manufacturers and businesspeople with the aim of developing the film industry to a level where the products compete favourably globally.”
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Speaking at the launch of the third edition of AFRIFF in Victoria Island, Lagos, Ude announced that “the acclaimed festival city of Calabar in Cross River State would host AFRIFF in 2013. “The synergy created by experiencing the festival in Calabar,” she said, “will be something to cherish for a lifetime; it will be the ultimate experience for all participants from home and abroad.”
