By Ogova Ondego
Published December 4, 2013
An inaugural youth film festival for the Middle East and North African region that has just ended brought together international experts on children’s media to deliberate on high quality content for the generation of today and tomorrow.
Held in Doha, Qatar, November 26-30, 2013, more than 70 experts from all over the world who specialise in research, animation, production, distribution, video games and social media converged at Ajyal Youth Film Festival for the two-day industry forum.
The event was organised and presented by the Doha Film Institute at Katara Cultural Village on the theme, ‘Our Children First!’
Firdoze Bulbulia of South Africa curated what came to be popularly known as “Our Children First!†industry forum that grappled with issues like orality, music, poetry, new media, social media, policy, regulation, media literacy, and the role and importance of film festivals in financing, promotion, marketing and distribution of children’s media content.
Among sub-Sahara Africa’s initiatives represented in the Industry Forum were Lola Kenya Screen (Kenya), Zanzibar International Film Festival (Tanzania), Dockanema (Mozambique),and South Africa’s Children’s Broadcasting Foundation for Africa (CBFA), Moments Entertainment, National Association of Broadcasters of South Africa (SABA) and South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC).
