Following the unprecedented success of last year's inaugural 1st Freetown Film Festival, which garnered world-wide praise, the 2nd Freetown Film Festival will take place from the 31st August to 6th September, 2008, and for the first time in broadcasting history, a selected Sierra Leone film will be shown each evening, on national television.
"Last year's inaugural festival was a great success and we screened
over twenty Sierra Leone films at the Globe Cinema to an audience of
over 4,000 people over three days," said a spokesperson for the
Festival organizers. Although many in Sierra Leone still do not
appreciate the potential economic, social and cultural significance of
this type of event, it did not go unnoticed in the global arena. "We
received many comments, plaudits, submissions and offers of support
from organisations as diverse as the BBC World Service, British Film
Institute and international arts, film and media festivals and
organizations around the world, and these have helped reinforce our
convictions about the necessity to continue to pursue and develop our
work."
This year, for the first time in history, Sierra Leone films will be
screened on television by the national broadcaster, SLBS, every evening
of the Film Festival Week. A very positive sign of the social and
cultural rehabilitation that has been taking place in the post-conflict
aftermath of Sierra Leone's recent decade-long war.
The Freetown Film Festival is just one of a number of initiatives
quietly, but continually, being developed by the Sierra Leone National
Film Workshop, a local non-profit organization, run entirely on a
voluntary basis by volunteers. It has quickly become respected by many
in Sierra Leone and internationally, as the only local filmmaking
organisation working to help filmmakers in the development of an
indigenous Sierra Leone film industry, and certainly one of only a few
organizations able to have achieved so much without any support from
government nor international donors.
This year's 2nd Freetown Film Festival sponsored by kunu.org - a unique
new agency launched to protect and promote Sierra Leone's culture and
environment - is concentrating on developing more public awareness and
participation in the support of local filmmaking, as well as
highlighting the talent and potential of Sierra Leone professionals.
The Festival, a week-long focus on Sierra Leone filmmaking, will also
include a Filmmakers Forum, which will include lectures, workshops and
screenings for filmmakers, discussions about working with investors as
well as stakeholders in government, civil society and the private
sector towards peace, development and a thriving economy.
"Without doubt, it is now widely acknowledged that film-making is an
important part of any culture and can benefit the economy in the form
of employment, income generation as well as other areas such as helping
to promote tourism and a wider interest in a country," said a
spokesperson. "We are therefore immensely grateful to SLBS for
collaborating with us to promote Sierra Leone films across the country.
This will allow the whole nation to share and enjoy indigenous films
that reflect our experiences, our lives, our cultures." As it did last
year, the Film Festival is a long overdue way of acknowledging the
achievements of our country's struggling filmmakers and is set to
create new opportunities for the benefit not only of film-makers, but
for audiences, investors, and the country's culture and economy as a
whole.
About the Sierra Leone National Film Workshop
The Workshop is a non-profit organization run entirely by volunteers.
It is the only dedicated organisation working with Sierra Leone
filmmakers to encourage and support local film production and assist
its viable development for the benefit of Sierra Leone's society,
culture and economy.
For more information:
Please contact Ernest S.T.F.Mannah on +232 (0)77 422711 or
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Following the unprecedented success of last year's inaugural 1st Freetown Film Festival, which garnered world-wide praise, the 2nd Freetown Film Festival will take place from the 31st August to 6th September, 2008, and for the first time in broadcasting history, a selected Sierra Leone film will be shown each evening, on national television.
