Barely a few days after completing the KAP–SOPA Pan-African Filmmaking Bootcamp, graduates have hit the jackpot on the international scene, with the AFRIFF founder assuring two slots for the student films.
At the recently held student film premiere, Chioma Ude, founder and Executive Director of the Africa International Film Festival (AFRIFF), expressed her confidence in the quality and potential of the students’ work and assured the young filmmakers that two of their films would be screened in the Students’ Film category at the next edition of AFRIFF.
The announcement transformed an already emotional graduation into a bridge between the classroom and the international festival circuit.
The 12-week Pan-African Filmmaking Bootcamp, a partnership between KAP Film & Television Academy and the Government of the Republic of Benin through its audiovisual agency, SOPA, brought 20 young Beninese creatives through an intensive programme of filmmaking theory, practical training and production.
Their journey culminated in the creation and premiere of three original short films.
All three student films premiered before an audience that included some of the most respected figures in African cinema and the international film community, including Keith Shiri, Jean-Pierre Bekolo, Femi Odugbemi, Tunde Kelani, Tade Ogidan, Virginie Besson-Silla, Chioma Ude and Sola Sobowale. Industry greats greeted them with applause at the event.
The graduation also saw the unveiling of ITAN, The Screen Gathering and Awards, by Femi Odugbemi, as a new platform being championed by KAP Group founder Kunle Afolayan.
