Eko International Film Festival begins tomorrow

Eko International Film Festival (EKOIFF), one of the festivals that have recoloured the Lagos cinema landscape, begins tomorrow with screening at the Silverbird Galleria, Lagos. The festival ends Thursday, April 25.

In its ninth edition, the festival has over 208 movies from across the globe with the United States of America topping the list with 58 movies. Nigeria has 43, Canada 30,United Kingdom 19, Germany 13, France 11, India 10, Russian Federation seven, Australia and Italy have six each, while Brazil summited only five. These movies are short narratives, features, documentaries and African indigenous films.

According to President/founder, EKOIFF, Hope Obioma Opara, the thrust of the event lies in the special presentations, retrospectives, workshops, panels, networking events, film screenings and others.

He said film festivals showcase new talents, new and upcoming filmmakers and also attract tourists and the media from different parts of the world to the host city.

“Film festival is the icing of cake on a city. Major capital of countries across the world, including big cities have film festivals named after them. Film festivals act as tool for the promotion of culture, tourism and economic activities, especially hospitality businesses,” he said.

Opara urged brands to support film festivals as a way of promoting their products and also encouraging film industry, adding that Atlanta Film Festival in Georgia has over 80 brands every year partnering it and that the same thing is applicable to the yearly Cannes Film Festival in France and Toronto Festival in Canada, among others.

EKOIFF head called government to establish film festivals fund in the country, saying this would enable film festivals to grow in all our major cities and boost local economy.

“We have beautiful film locations and wonderful tourism destinations across the country, establishing film festivals in all our major cities will not only promote tourism and attract foreign businessmen to invest in our film industry, but will create jobs,” he said.