Former President of Directors Guild of Nigeria and Founder of Abuja International Film Festival, Fidelis Duker, is in Quagadougou, Burkina Faso, on Jury duties, as the 28th edition of the Pan African Film and Television Festival of Ouagadougou gets underway.
Duker was named as a member of the jury for the ‘ECOWAS Special Prize’ at the festival.
He is the second Nigerian serving in jury capacity at FESPACO. Kunle Afolayan, award-winning Filmmaker, is the President of Jury for the ‘Perspectives’ section where eleven films are in competition.
With this latest recognition, Duker has cemented his place in Africa’s cinema landscape.
According to a statement made available to TCN and signed by ECOWAS Commissioner for Human Development and Social Affairs (HDSA), Prof. Fatou Sarr, Duker was appointed based on his enviable commitments in promoting cinema on the continent.
“In view of your rich experience and your commitment to the promotion of cinema, I would like to invite you as a member of the jury to take part in the Festival,” Sarr stated.
FESPACO is a major event that brings together filmmakers and distributors of cinema and television products in Ouagadougou every two years in a bid to contribute to the promotion and development of the market for cinematographic works in the sub-region.
This year’s festival, which is supported by ECOWAS through the HDSA, is themed African Cinemas and Culture Peace.
The festival opened on Saturday with ‘Bravo Burkina’, a film by Nigerian-born American photographer and designer, Wale Oyejide. More than 170 films are competing in various categories of the festival, which runs till Sunday March 4, 2023.
