By Ogova Ondego
Published December 15, 2014
East African film practitioners are to collaborate with their Egyptian counterparts on training, production and exhibition following the signing of an agreement between their umbrella East African Film Network (EAFN) and Luxor African Film Festival (LAFF).
The agreement, signed by EAFN Chair Leonce Ngabo and LAFF President Sayed Fouad (on behalf of LAFF, the Egyptian Cinematic Syndicate and all partners of LAFF) in Arusha on September 23, 2014, involves all the five East African Community Partner States on one hand and Egypt on the other.
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Among the terms of the three-year Agreement and Collaboration Protocol, EAFN and LAFF will “co-operate in organising African film weeks in Egypt from the five EAFN member states and vice versa in order to propagate the film culture of Egypt and the EAFN member states so their Nile Basin people can communicate and converge through the medium of cinema.”
While EAFN will nominate five filmmakers, one from each EAC Partner State for the LAFF filmmaking workshop, LAFF will organise Egyptian delegations for filmmaking courses in each of the five EAC countries.
Film Festivals organised in the five-member states of EAC are expected to invite representatives of LAFF to participate in their events as a way of enhancing this cooperation among countries of the River Nile Basin.
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And as a result of that MoU, EAFN is calling upon filmmakers in East Africa to submit their 2014-made films for nomination to the LAFF 2015 pre-selection process. Three films—one short, one long narrative and one long documentary—shall be selected from each EAC Partner State with effect from 2014. Also being nominated are filmmakers to participate in the LAFF film workshop in 2015.
Interested filmmakers are advised to submit their applications for the workshop and 2014 productions to their respective EAFN Country Representatives: Papy Ndikumana (Burundi), Ogova Ondego (Kenya), Bintresor Senga (Rwanda), Mary Birdi (Tanzania) and Phad Mutumba (Uganda) by December 13, 2014.
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