ION Film Festival to rev up Rivers
By Chuks Nwanne
MOBILE telecommunication company, Zain has thrown its weight behind the up coming Ion International Film Festival, holding in Port Harcourt, River State capital. The festival, which will be taking place on an African soil for the first time since inception, will open on December 9 through 12, with notable filmmakers from different parts of the world expected in the Garden City.
Speaking at a media briefing held recently in Lagos to announce the support, the Chief Commercial Officer of Zain Nigeria, Shamel Hanafai informed that the company is extremely proud to be associated with the film festival due to its significance and value addition to the development of the film industry in Nigeria.
"In many respects, the ideals of the film festival are alignment with Zain's core values of radiance, heart and belonging. Our brand philosophy of 'a wonderful world', is clearly in sync with the theme of this year's festival, which is about promoting peace in the Niger Delta and indeed, in Nigeria and the world as a whole."
Hanafai recalled that the telecommunication company had in the past, supported several arts and cultural initiatives with and outside the country such as Ojude Oba Festival, New yam Festivals, Idols West Africa, MTV Africa Music Awards (MAMA) and others, adding that the sponsorship of the Ion Film Festival is in continuation of their tradition of supporting development of arts and culture, which he described as vital elements in promoting the way of life of a country and it's people.
"Let me state here that we are committed to providing strong platforms for young people to discover and project their talents and skills. By supporting Ion, Zain is restating this commitment, which I can state categorically, will remain an important part of our strategy into the future."
Describing Nollywood one of the largest in the world and still growing, Hanafi noted that, "beyond the sheer size and vibrancy of the Nigerian movie industry, there's need to improve the quality of movies to make them more competitive in the international market. The festival will surely provide an opportunity for stakeholders in Nollywood to brainstorm and strategise on the future of the industry and learn from key players in Hollywood and Bollywood, who are expected to share their experiences during the festival."
Meanwhile, Rivers State government has assured participants and tourists, who will be attending the festival, of adequate security of lives and properties all through their stay in the state. The state's Director of Tourism, Sokari Davies, who represented the state at the media briefing, disclosed that proper measures have been put in place for a hitch free festival in the Garden City.
"We are ready to host the world come December 9. Our governor is a youth minded man, who believes so much in peace. We've actually done a lot regarding security, but we cannot sit down here to disclose our plans to the whole world. All we are saying is that lives and properties of our guests is vital in our planning."
According to Sokari, the state is very aggressive in their effort to bring back the vibrant social life of Port Harcourt.
"Anything that will help in that direction, we are ready to support it. Currently, we have events lined up for Port Harcourt this year. So, Ion Film Festival is a sure platform for achieving our aim of bringing back the vibrant social life that the city was known for."
With the recent kidnap of comedy merchant, Nkem Owoh, popularly know as Osuofia, some artistes have started raising concern over their security while in Port Harcourt. But Sokari was quick to explain that no entertainer has ever been kidnapped in Rivers State.
"Both Pete Edochie and Nkem Owoh, were not kidnapped in Rivers State. For your information, we've not heard of kidnapping in Rivers State for months now, so, the state is not all about kidnapping; it's safe for everybody. I assure you that all through your stay in Port Harcourt, no hair would be touched."
Sokari used the opportunity to inform the general public on the measure taken by the state government in their effort to stop the ugly act of kidnapping in the state.
"We've done a lot in clearing these boys from the streets; for the fact that they know us and we know them, has helped in controlling their excesses. We've embarked on a campaign in the 23 LGAs even before the federal government announced the amnesty; we had actually started accepting these boys before then. Already, a lot of them are undergoing skill acquisition training in different areas, while the state government is sponsoring some of them to further their education abroad has. We've gone a long way in bringing our youths back," she said.
On the other hand, the producers of the festival have unveiled members of the jury of Ion 2009. The list, which was made available to the media, has Nigeria's Newton Aduaka and Peace Fiberesima Anyiam-Osigwe, President of AMAA as members.
Newton is the co-writer, director and executive-producer of Ezra funded by Arte France. The film won the Grand Jury Prize at several film festivals, including FESPACO, Durban, Amiens and Balafon film festivals and was an official selection at Sundance and Cannes. Peace on her part is the founder and CEO of Africa Movie Academy Awards, which she created to encourage the growth of the film industry in Africa. She's also the executive director, Global Music Movie and More.
Other members of the jury include Kenyan Charles Peter Asiba, the Director of Kenya International Film Festival; Adrienne Frejacques, head of the publishing and International Sales of ARTE, France; June Givanni, programme executive at OFCOM, regulators for the television, radio and telecommunication industries in UK; Keith Shiri, a festival producer in UK and Asantewa Olatunji, director of Pan-African Film Festival, USA.
