( Lagos , November 25, 2005 ) Nollywood -- get ready for a developmental whirlwind! This weekend, nineteen film-makers from 12 African countries, Italy , Spain and the UK arrive in Lagos to attend a conference on the Future of Development Film in Africa coming up next week, December 1 & 2, at the Pan African University Campus, Lekki Expressway, Lagos .
Among the distinguished group of African film producers is Mr. Izi Codron, the executive producer of the award winning film, Hotel Rwanda, which starred Don Cheadle and Nigerian-British actress, Sophie Okonedo. Codron is the key note speaker at the conference, and will be sharing his views on producing commercially successful African feature films which also touch on social, economic and political issues.
Other distinguished speakers will be Steve Gukas and Abius Awaakwe, the producers of the feature film Nujoma, starring American actor Danny Glover as the charismatic Namibian leader who brought his country out of colonial rule. Tanzanian based film-director John Riber will speak about the role and responsibility of African producers vis a vis Africa’s growing poverty, and Italian film producer, Luca Manzi, will speak on marketing African films in Europe.
The conference is being organized by Communicating for Change (CFC), a Nigerian non-profit development communications outfit, that has produced hard hitting documentaries on African social issues for a number of years, and distributed them across 32 countries. CFC is hosting the conference in partnership with the Television Trust for the Environment (TVE), based in the United Kingdom , and the Pan African University , an initiative of the Lagos Business School .
“The conference is meant to provide a platform for filmmakers who have distinguished themselves internationally as social activists to share their ideas about content development, international financing, marketing and distribution with Nigeria ’s growing film industry. Nollywood has had a huge impact on African consciousness both on the continent and also in the Diaspora, but the industry is not getting enough support, especially from the private sector” explained Sandra Obiago, the Executive Director of Communicating for Change.
In order to address this imbalance, the conference is featuring speakers from the financial sector (GTB’s Tayo Adenirokun), the development community (the European Union and Ford Foundation), academia (Lagos Business School & the University of Navarre in Spain), government agencies (the Honourable Minister of Information and National Orientation as well as the Heads of the National Broadcasting Commission, The Nigerian Film Corporation etc.), leading Nollywood producers (such as Amaka Igwe, Don Pedro Obaseki, Madu Chikwendu), Nollywood marketers from Onitsha and Lagos, and international broadcasters (MNET & BBC) to discuss how to ensure more financing, distribution, capacity building, as well as content development for the film industry.
Of course one of the biggest challenges Nollywood is facing is the problem of international piracy, and Mr. Mesmer Guyeou from the World Intellectual Property Organisation in Geneva will be tackling this topic alongside Nigerian experts such as Dr. B. Sodipo and Ms. Ifeoma Williams of Strachan Partners.
Another highlight of the conference will be the launching of a brand new series of films called Snapshots of Change which features progress made for women globally since the Women’s Conference held in Beijing in 1995. The film series will be introduced by TVE, which will be followed by a panel discussion by distinguished Nigerian and international speakers,
“The two day conference program is so full that the registration fee of N5000 is an incredible deal for so much value,” concluded Dr. Mike Okolo of the Lagos Business School . “We are extremely grateful to our international and local guests and sponsors (the Ford Foundation, MTN Communications Ltd., Global Energy Company, the Silverbird group, Channels Television, Minaj, AIT, and Cool FM) who have helped us organize such a top-quality international conference.
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