A major corporate intervention has come the way of African film makers as Unilever Plc has unveiled a training and video contest.
Over the years, the industry, especially in Nigeria, has been faced with questions bordering on professionalism and funding. While the Federal Government and some institutions had launched some initiatives, there is still a wide gap compared to what obtains in other developed industries such as Hollywood or Bollywood.
Saying it wants to empower the practitioners, Unilever is, however, inaugurating the ‘Academy for African Filmmakers’, which seeks to empower, equip and celebrate African filmmakers.
According to the company’s Managing Director, Yaw Nsakor, the Academy will develop filmmaking expertise and give students the opportunity to work on live Unilever briefs, as well as provide potential further funding for their work and the possibility of seeing their finished films broadcast.
“As part of the Academy for African Filmmakers, Unilever, in partnership with MOFILM, will offer an intensive three-day course, created and delivered by experts from the filmmaking industry that will run in Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa in December 2014.
The curriculum will cover several aspects of filmmaker theory and practice, with a focus on developing the story telling skills of the attending students,” the company notes in a statement.
It adds that aspiring filmmakers from the age of 16 to 30 can apply, as long as they are resident in any African country, have a technical proficiency in filmmaking and can demonstrate a passion for film and storytelling.
According to Jeffrey Merrihue, founder and MOFILM CEO, which is in partnership with Unilever on the project, MOFILM had great success in 2013 in finding untapped African filmmaking talent.
He says, “We visited countless film schools and production houses, meeting hundreds of filmmakers and those efforts resulted in two filmmakers being celebrated at the International Festival of Creativity at Cannes. Through partnering with Unilever, the AAF will build on this work and give even greater opportunity for African filmmakers to shine on a local and global stage.”
Also highlighting the essence of the project, Marc Mathieu of SVP Global Marketing says, “Africa is home to a huge pool of young, talented filmmakers. Through the Academy for African Filmmakers, we’re seeking to enable, develop and promote African filmmaking talent within Africa and for Africa.”
Meanwhile, Unilever, on Tuesday, unveiled a video contest to create content for its Lux, Knorr and Sunlight brands. The contest is open to all African filmmakers over 16 years of age.
Nsakor noted that briefs for the contest can be found on MOFILM website, and they are part of the curriculum for the iaugural Academy for African Filmmakers.
“The winning filmmaker for each brand will be flown to the Cannes Lions Festival in France to see his work celebrated,” he added.
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