By Adelagun EniObanke
This year’s edition of the iRepresent International Documentary Festival (iRep) will proceed as scheduled inspite of the postponement of governorship and houses of assembly elections to this Saturday, March 18, 2023.
In a press statement made available to TCN, organisers of the festival said IRep 2023 would hold between Thursday March 16 and Sunday March 19 as a hybrid event across multiple venues in Lagos, Nigeria.
“It is an election year, and the air is foggy with uncertainties and anxieties that usually characterise such epochal season of transition in the national polity. This has affected programming of many cultural events, with some of them that falls in the first quarter to half of the year, being postponed or cancelled outrightly.
But Life must continue. Politics cannot erase our smiles. The soul of the community of humans must continue to be nurtured by the resources of the arts and creativity. We cannot stop breathing or living because of the cause of national elections.
Thus, iRepresent Documentary Film Festival, the nation’s prime feast of documentary, after due consideration by the directors, Board members and programme directorate, has resolved to stage its 13th edition in spite of the palpable uncertainties in the polity, especially the growing fears of insecurity that could shake the soul of the nation,” the organisers stated.
The theme for the festival this year is ‘Documenting the Underserved: Agenda for Nigeria 2023’ and will be held mainly at the Freedom Park, Lagos Island with satellite Screening Centres in: Bariga, Ajegunle, Ejigbo and Ikorodu.
According to the organisers, the 13th iRepresent International Documentary Film Festival, which has held traditionally in the third week of March every year, is confirmed for March 16-19. “This is within the election season which starts with the Presidential and National Assembly polls on February 25 and, the Governorship and House of Assembly polls on March 18. This coincidence would naturally have optioned either a postponement or outright cancellation of the festival, which seems logical.
“However, with determination not to miss out on the historical trajectory of the festival, especially after the major disruption occasioned by the Covid19 pandemic lockdowns of 2020 and 2021, the Board and management of the Foundation for the Promotion of Documentary Film in Africa, organisers of the annual documentary film festival, have resolved to stage a moderated version of the festival at same appointed date.
The coincidence with the electioneering season, of course, has consequential disruptions to the nature and character of the festival.
“Essentially, it also has implication for the thematic thrust of the festival. Thus, unlike in previous editions, in which the festival embraces global thematic thrust, the 2023 festival would specifically focus on Nigeria in its season of epochal political transition.”
The organisers said,
Whereas the generic theme of iREP since foundation has been Africa in Self-conversation, with dependence on international partners to provide human and material resources for both plenary and screening slots, the 2023 minimised edition, will have as generic theme, NIGERIA IN SELF-CONVERSATION. As self-explanatory, the edition will focus more on films produced by Nigerians, about Nigeria, and for Nigerians; in particular those in the suburb communities of Lagos where public amenities such as schools, health, water, power and hygienic/environmental services etc are usually in short supplies.
They explained that the theme Documenting the Underserved: Agenda for Nigeria 2023, has been strategically designed to address cogent issues in the national polity, which essentially is about enthroning responsible political system that insists on good governance and participatory democracy – two ingredients that have been lacking in Nigeria’s chequered 24-year-old democratic journey which began in 1999.
“Part of the objectives of the theme is to direct attention of particularly young people to the power of documentary films in empowering them to be active participants in the discourses in their socio-political, economic and cultural environment.
Specifically, the theme, as would be reflected in choice of films to be screened and discussions at the minimised plenary, is to spotlight the powerful tool the young people have in their hands through their smart phones and other electronic gadgets, which they could easily deploy to expose the needs of their communities for the benefit of their elected representatives, who hopefully would be assuming their various offices with fresh mindset of serving the interest of their people.”
On film screenings, the organisers said:
“With the chosen theme, Documenting the Underserved… the iREP is embarking on the pilot scheme of the INNER CITY SCREENING (ICS) project, which will see it screening films in such suburbs of Lagos — Bariga-Makoko, Ikorodu, Ajegunle, Ejigbo — as well as at the festival’s traditional base – Freedom Park (Lagos Island). We hope to use the screened films to awaken the interest of the participants to their civic responsibility,” stated the Festival Programme Directorate. It adds,”The ICS project will also help us in fashioning a critical aspect of the agenda for the iREP 2023-24 main project: the Documentary Film Curriculum Development project.” To execute this programme, the iREP is partnering with screening centres in the select four pilot centres in Bariga, Ajegunle, Ikorodu, and Ejigbo.
However, the festival plenary has been schemed into two variants:
1. SEMINAR ON DOCUMENTARY FILM CURRICULM DEVELOPMENT
To be staged VIRTUALLY, the conference is designed as an exploratory meeting of scholars, experts and a focus group of professionals to gather information and data on existing teaching methodology and structure in the few Film studies departments in select Nigerian universities. With a projected participation of 12 faculties — film scholars, researchers and teachers – five from Nigeria and 4 from around the continent, and 3 from Europe and the West, the Plenary aims to produce a working document that would then form the basis of agenda for discussion at the main conference which has been slated for JULY after the new government would have been sworn, settled in and the election-induced security challenges would have been tamed enough to enable us bring in targeted international participants from the continent, Europe, North America and Canada.
2. SYMPOSIUM ON FINANCIAL INCLUSIVITY
To be staged VIRTUALLY, the symposium, in tandem with the thematic thrust of the 2023 IREP — documenting the underserved segments of society in our national development agenda – will address the importance of financial inclusion of the underserved. The Symposium thematic focus is also a reference to the recent crisis engendered by the “Naira Redesign” policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria, which visited untold but avoidable hardships on a large segment of the society, mostly the poor and low-income earners in the society. Speakers will reflect on how the poor and the common people could be given material empowerment so that they are authentic and free participants in the democratic system that determines their fate, future and fortune. Two eminent specialists have been selected to address the topic. These are Mr. Olu Akanmu, President and Co-CEO, OPAY-Nigeria; and Ms. Bunmi Lawson, CEO EdFin Microfinance Bank.
