36 youths selected from across Nigeria, have graduated from the third
edition of the filmmaking capacity building programme, “Unleash Your
Creativity”, in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the young filmmakers
were presented to the audience on Thursday night at the closing ceremony
of the programme tagged, “Night of Stars and Awards”, held at the
Genesis Cinemas in Abuja.
Mr Emmanuel Eyaba, the President of 2ET Media Network, organisers of
the Programme, said the night was to honour the young talents for
successfully completing the training, and to also showcase them to
stakeholders.
“In line with our vision of empowering the African youth, these young
filmmakers were camped for 14 days and mentored by seasoned filmmakers
and members of the Directors Guild of Nigeria.
“While in camp, stakeholders and celebrities in the industry trained
and share experiences with them, and they are now ready to showcase
their talents to the world,” he said.
Eyaba explained that the youths were trained in acting, directing,
cinematography, editing, script writing and in other genres of the
filmmaking process.
He added that while in camp, participants were shared into groups (A
and B) and were assigned to produce one film each that would create
awareness on Peaceful Co-existence and on the menace of Self Medication.
While presenting the awards, Eyaba noted that “The best group will be
empowered with N10 million filmmaking fund to produce a feature film
and given a one-year production contract with 2ET Media Network.
“This gesture will automatically make these young filmmakers equipped and relevant to the film industry,” he stressed.
He added that all the participants would also be recommended, as cast or crew, to seasoned filmmakers across Nigeria.
He said that the initiative was to create job for young people in the
industry, thereby reducing the numbers of unemployed Nigerians, and
ultimately make them employers of labour as well.
NAN reports that the high point of the night was the screening of the
movie produced by the young stars and the award of outstanding
individuals during the camping period.
Group A produced a movie titled “The 5th Day”, while Group B produced
an advocacy movie on tribal and religious tolerance among Nigerians
titled “Misconception,” and was named the best team during the
programme.
Other categories of honour at the event included, Best Actors (Male
and Female), Best Director, and Best Cinematographer, among others.
Mr Christian Chima, who directed the winning movie, and also clinched
the best director award, expressed delight on behalf of the teams for
the exposure they received.
“We want to sincerely appreciate Eyaba and his team for this great
opportunity given to us, we are now well equipped to make our marks as
professional filmmakers,” he said.
Also, Mr Ofem Oboma, National Coorditor of Entrepreneur Enhancement
Centre, who partners with the organisers of the programme,encouraged the
young talents to see the opportunity as springboard into their career.
He therefore offered scholarship for a selected best graduate of the programme to study French at the French Institute in Abuja.
