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Abuja Film Festival To Screen 91 Movies At 19th Edition

The 19th Abuja International Film Festival will witness more entries from different nations, with 91 movies to be screened.

The AIFF, in a statement on Sunday, revealed that 1,771 films have been received from 87 countries.

This was revealed on Sunday in Abuja by Millicent Bassey, the Festival’s Communications Officer.

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This year’s edition of AIFF is scheduled for October 31st to November 3rd, 2022 at the prestigious Silverbird Cinemas Abuja and two other centers.

Bassey said this year’s theme is ‘The Digital Revolution: Harnessing the Potentials in Online Streaming and Downloads of Contents’

She described it as being an apt theme that reveals the opportunities and challenges inherent in the global digital film arena in which Nigeria is a major player.

The Abuja International Film Festival is the longest-running film festival in Anglophone West Africa.

According to the Festival’s Director, Temitope Duker who spoke on activities lined up for the festival, the festival regulars like Screenings, Master-classes, Panel Discussions, parties, and the big one which is the grand event of the closing night where honours will go to deserving films and filmmaker are still part of the film festival this year.

Also listed for this year’s festival is a short film competition for young and aspiring filmmakers on hygiene.

Contestants are expected to submit their films on or before the 20th of October 2022 with a duration of 5 minutes, according to the organisers.

Some of the films this year have thematic content on gender and social issues from countries like Nepal, Poland, USA, South Africa, India, China, Jordan, Canada, Tanzania, Brazil, Egypt, and Nigeria amongst several others, bringing a global perspective to the festival.

Bassey said unlike the 2021 edition which had only 1,171 entries with 92 selected for screenings and 42 nominated for possible awards, the 2022 edition has more entries from more nations around the world with Nigeria accounting for 35% of the total entries.

Reiterating further on the 19th edition, Bassey noted that he is excited that the festival is back in full force ahead of the 20th Edition of the festival next year.

“As the global filmmaking industry moves towards a new digital revolution in online streaming and downloads of contents, it has become expedient to discuss the new story-telling traditions used by filmmakers in captivating the online viewers,” she said.

According to the organizers, activities for the 20th edition of the festival will be unveiled during this 19th edition with the launch of the Score Nollywood Hall of Fame and Museum in Abuja.

Nigeria is one of the top three countries in the world in filmmaking and sometimes sits as number two to India. The other global filmmaking giant is the US.

Nigeria’s filmmaking brand name is Nollywood just like the US’ filmmaking name, Hollywood Nollywood. In India, it’s called Bollywood.

The industry is worth hundreds of millions of naira annually.

Abuja International Film FestivalAIFF
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