The Story⚡
Day 2 of the 13th AFRIFF experienced five panel sessions and film screenings, ranging from shorts, documentaries, features, etc.
Tell Me More
The Herbert Day of the 13th edition of AFRIFF witnessed five panel sessions with proficient voices in the industry as panelists. Panel 1, Financing the Future: Investing in Film for Global Prosperity, features PAC Capital, AFREXIM Bank, Chapel Hill Denham, Bank of Industry, and NBO Capital. It had Michael Ndiomu as the moderator.
Panel 2, Cultural Wealth to Global Prosperity: Film as a Catalyst for Economic Development, was moderated by Femi Odugbemi, and it had Boye Pape, Baba Agba, and Juliet Ashanti on the panel. During the session, the panellists advocated for collaboration and partnership amongst creatives to see the projected economic development. In the words of Juliet Ashanti, “Nigeria is big, and it’s doing well, but it cannot do it alone. The same goes for Ghana. There should be a collaboration between these two countries.”
Panel 3, Cinema for Change: The Role of Film in Shaping Social Narratives, moderated by Emmanuella Daniel, had Fifehan, Yvonne Olomu, Yibo Koko, Hamisha Daryani, and Adebowale Adedayo (Mr Macaroni). Responding to the role of films in social narratives, Adebowale said, “Our films should not only show the positive sides alone. We must use our stories to show exactly our society. Yes, there’s art for art’s sake, but it’s not our duty to tell the positive stories alone.”
Panel 4, Tech Innovation and Skills Development: Cultivating the Next Generation of African Filmmakers, featured discussions around leveraging technology by the young ones to advance the course on filmmaking in the country and the continent at large.
The last panel session for the day was a fireside chat with John Boyega, moderated by Fela Oke. During the session, Boyega shared personal experiences of the challenges and struggles he went through as an actor. He encouraged young actors and filmmakers not to relent in their pursuit of success. While speaking on his recent business visits to Nigeria, Boyega said, “What we are trying to do now is to understand the terrains here before bringing the cameras.” Needless to say that Boyega and his team are also on the lookout to take into the Nollywood market by also making their own movies. While commenting on that, Boyega also hinted that Genevieve Nnaji, who he regarded as his major inspiration as an actor in the Nigerian film industry, will star in one of their movies. He was also presented with the Trailblazer Award, which he described as his first award in Africa. Recall that the award was also presented to Benedict Okey Oramah, president of Afreximbank, and Babajide Sanwo-Olu, the executive governor of Lagos State.
The day was also marked significantly by the screening of the self-acclaimed first sports drama in Nigeria, The Other Side of the Bridge, a boxing film starring Demi Banwo, Tobi Bakre, Ireti Doyle, Olarotimi Fakunle, and a host of other A-list actors. Fiyin Gambo directs the feature, and it tells the story of Tobi and Demi, who find themselves on opposite sides of the ring. The two, motivated by different reasons, must fight to win a cash prize of $20,000.
In their reaction to the film, some audience members applauded the film for its brilliant depiction of what boxing looks like in Nigeria. In his response to that, Demi mentioned that he trained with Tobi for more than six months. This obviously gave the film a touch of reality in it.
In Summary
Day 2 wrapped up with the festival participants anticipating the coming days.
