The Africa International Film Festival (AFRIFF) opens in Nigeria
on Sunday and although it is still in its infancy, organisers hope that
with time it can become the continent's Cannes.
Seventy
films from across the continent will be screened in a series of venues
over seven days in the southern coastal city of Calabar, which Nigeria
has tried to promote as an emerging cultural hub.
"For
an African film to come out in Cannes or at (the) Toronto (International
Film Festival) it has got to be pretty exceptional," said festival
spokesman Julian Nwagboniwe.
"But on our platform, we
can increase exposure" for artists who may struggle for recognition in
Europe or North America, he told AFP.
"We are looking
at Cannes and we think that AFRIFF can be the Cannes of Africa,"
Nwagboniwe went on, referring to the glitzy annual festival on the
French Riviera that attracts the world's top film stars.
Nigeria
is a logical host for a continental film festival: its cinema industry
-- known as Nollywood -- pumps out about 1,000 titles every year and is
thought to generate some $500 million (370 million euros) in annual
revenue.
In 2007, Nigeria was the world's number one
film producer with 1,559 titles, according to UNESCO figures, ahead of
India (1,146) and US behemoth Hollywood (789).
Nollywood
films, most of which are straight-to-DVD productions and are often
hawked by roadside vendors for a dollar or two, are popular across
Africa but their wider appeal has been limited by plotlines and
performances which can be excessively dramatic and sometimes absurd.
And
while such films remain the dominant commercial force in the African
market, the Calabar festival seeks to highlight different kinds of work,
said Nwagboniwe.
"We think Africa has a lot of talent,
so many voices," he said. "We don't want the focus to be just Nigeria"
or stories the could be considered typical of Nollywood.
Engaging Africans in the diaspora is a key to boosting exposure, Nwagboniwe said.
The
2013 festival's programmer and jury coordinator is Keith Shiri, a
Zimbabwean-born film curator and advisor to the London Film Festival.
The
AFRIFF however suffered a significant blow last month when the
producers of "Half of a Yellow Sun", based on the bestselling novel by
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie about Nigeria's 1967-1970 Biafra civil war,
pulled out.
The film with British producers premiered in Toronto in September and opened in London on October 19.
Calabar had been tipped as the site of its first African viewing and significant parts of the film were filmed in the city.
The AFRIFF said it was "shocked" by the producer's decision to withdraw.
The film's producers did not respond to AFP's queries on the reasons for its withdrawal.
Nwagboniwe
said that alongside the screenings, the third AFRIFF will include a
series of workshops on cinematography and acting for camera aimed at
young people seeking to break into the industry.