EU contest unearths talent in filmmaking

        Bongo movies industry is in disarray that is if the recent trends are to be taken serious, for no good news is coming from that end of town.

And as some of its disciples have openly admitted on a couple of occasions it is an industry that is in dire need for redemption and urgent intervention.

That intervention seem to have come in form of a youth contest organized by the European Union with the objective of facilitating a competition that will spark dialogue among youth on the impact of overpopulation as well as support development youth-led agenda through art and creativity.

According to the head of the European Union delegation to Tanzania, Ambassador Roeland van de Geer the film competition is an excellent opportunity for young Tanzanians to creatively express themselves about a topic of great importance for the development of Tanzania.

“Tanzania has the 18th highest population growth rate and birth rate in the world and there are no signs that this trend will change. The high population growth provides for opportunities but also poses significant challenges, for example on social services such as health, education as well as infrastructure,” he says.

The first phase saw 30 participants aged between 18 and 35 selected to participate in a workshop to understand the guidelines for production and submission as well as to familiarise themselves with the key concept.

Helping out with this duty was a panel of renowned Tanzanian judges who conducted a workshop to orient the participants on the basic technicalities of the films expected.

This was further complemented by the presence of French film maker Kantarama Garighiri who was in the country in June to screen her documentary ‘Tapis Rouge’.

The EYFC workshop aimed at offering young and emerging filmmakers in Tanzania an exceptional creative opportunities and experiences with leaders of the movie industry.

“A program of talks, technical tips and career advice is intended to give budding film makers insight into all aspects of film making from writing and directing to acting and producing,” says one of the organisers.

He adds: We recognized that some people aspiring to enter the EYFC Film Competition may not have prior experience of participating in this type of competition. Consequently we sought the help of experienced and skilled professionals to collaborate with us to ensure a level-playing field for all participants.

According to Richard Ndunguru who was on the judging panel the European Youth Film proved to be beneficial to youths who are vying to become filmmakers.

“The pilot program proved to be a long waited platform for upcoming filmmakers. There is a great need to ensure its sustainability since its launch is timely with the vision of seeing a semi -industrious Tanzania. The prizes are a token that will boost the urge and motivate youths to jump into the filmmaking arena,” says Ndunguru.

He thinks that the contest in future should include more genres and categories should be taken into consideration because it is the only way through which it can equip the contestants with techniques such as screenplay writing production Management, camera technique, sound production and post production.

There was a sense of enthusiasm too from those whose films were picked for the contest such as Kherry Kafuku and Ivanune Mbilinyi.

“I have never had such an experience as a film maker. I used to think that film making is just shooting and editing. But now I am equipped with the some new technical aspects and even my friends congratulate me on my improvement’ says Kherry Kafuku

For Ivanune Mbilinyi it was a competition that he was proud to associate with that he can’t wait for the next edition given the level of training and the knowledge he gained.

The top 15 films have started around Dar es Salaam at no cost to the general public who will be given a chance to vote for their favourite film.

The public screening started last weekend at Mbagala Zakheim attracting a crowd of over 500 people who expressed satisfaction with the quality production and the messages in the short films.

The winning film will win prizes worth Sh 7 million, while the first runner up will win prizes worth Sh 5million and the second runner-up will win prizes worth Sh 3 million.