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EKOIFF holds in October

By Omiko Awa
21 September 2016   |   4:22 am
Plans have reached top gears for organisers of the yearly Eko International Film Festival (EKOIFF) to hold this year’s film festival, which marks the 7th edition of the festival in Lagos since its inception.

Hope-O.-Opara

Plans have reached top gears for organisers of the yearly Eko International Film Festival (EKOIFF) to hold this year’s film festival, which marks the 7th edition of the festival in Lagos since its inception.

Getting endorsement from Lagos State Government, the president/founder of the festival, Hope O. Opara, said the six-day event, with theme as ‘Product Placement in Films’ will hold from October 24 to 29 and would showcase plethora of narratives, documentary, short and long feature films.

“As one of the largest film festivals in Africa and the longest-running independent one in Lagos, the 2016 event would feature special presentations, master class, retrospectives, workshops, pitch panels, networking events, independent film screenings aside Gala Night/Awards reception and closing ceremony,” he noted.

According to him, the master classes offer filmmakers, directors and stakeholders in the industry opportunity to share experiences and garner knowledge that would help improve on their productions, apart from providing avenue for mingling and making new contacts.

Explaining how the festival would impact on the Nigerian film industry, Opara noted the festival seeks to raise standards in the Nigerian film industry and also improve quality of our local production.

Stressing that the festival has a huge following within and outside the country, he disclosed that that a total of 4873 films have been submitted into the festival’s network. According to him, the films came from over 115 countries across the globe with USA topping the list with over 618 films, while India followed with 404 films.

Highlighting some of the benefits of the festival, he said, “EKOIFF will promote the country’s economy and Lagos State tourism potential. It will put Lagos and Nigeria on the world map, as international centre for Arts and global Film market, aside creating opportunities for filmmakers across the globe to exchange ideas, promote culture of different continents and leverage on co-productions and distribution. Stakeholders that are not filmmakers would see the festival as avenue to sell or buy content that would improve their services,” he said.

Some of the Nigerian filmmakers expected at the festival, include Chidi Nwokeabia,Tunde Kilani, Joe Brown Ubaka and Stephanie Linus.

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