THE guests’ list at the 2013 launch of Africa International Film Festival (AFRIFF) was impressive. Held at The Rhapsody Lounge, Victoria Island, Lagos, the event attracted A-list actors and hhigh networth guests such as the Governor of Cross River State, Senator Liyel Imoke; his wife, Obioma Imoke; as well as Special Adviser to the President on Strategy and Documentation, Oronto Douglas.

The media parley, which held on May 19, also had Nollywood stars like Rita Dominic, who is the 2013 Ambassador of the Festival; Dakore Akande, Kate Henshaw, Nse Ikpe-Etim, Chioma Chukwuka-Akpotha, Paul Obaseki, Uru Eke, Anthony Monjaro, Bryan Okwara, Emem Isong, Omoni Oboli, Mahmood Ali-Balogun, Susan Peters and Mary Uranta as well as Michelle Dede, Ozioma Okposo and Ebuka Obi-Uchendu in attendance.

The festival, which is in its third edition, holds from November 10 to 17. It is a world class showcase that presents a complete immersion into the world of film making with participation from local and international, actors, directors, scriptwriters, cinematographers, sound engineers, musicians, editors, light engineers, students, equipment manufacturers and businessmen.

Speaking at the event, Chioma Ude (Founder and Project Director) said the new home of the festival is the Tinapa Resort located in the world acclaimed festival city of Calabar.

She said, “the synergy created by experiencing the festival in Calabar will be something to cherish for a lifetime, it will be the ultimate experience for all participants from home and abroad.”

The Tinapa Resort and Free zone is a world class integrated business and leisure resort located in Calabar, Cross River State, Nigeria offering a wide range of fun facilities and great hangout spots for the whole family including the 242 room Amber Tinapa Hotel, Water-themed Park and Games arcade and also a four-screen Cinema complex and world class Studio facilities.

The objectives of the festival, according to Ude, are to develop the film industry to a level where the products compete favorably with their contemporaries all over world; provide a growth opportunity for these film industry professionals to eventually export their products to the world; facilitate access to investors, equipment, technical and skill acquisition through Festival organized fora and several capacity development workshops; complement government’s efforts at revamping small and medium scale enterprises (SMEs).

She thanked the governor and people of Cross River State for believing in her vision and partnering with the festival to deliver this exceptional experience in their state.

Ude also announced that this year’s Call for Entry for movies in competition opened on May 1, 2013 and will close on July 30, 2013. She said that details and application forms were available for download on the AFRIFF website, www.africafilmfest.org.

She also highlighted that the Awards for excellence in the film categories for submitted entries in competition at AFRIFF had been increased from five to 11.

These now will be Best Feature Fim, Best Screenplay, Best Director, Best Actor and Best Actress, all under the Feature Film category while the Documentary Film and Animation Film categories will offer awards for Best Documentary and Best Animation respectively.

The Short Film category on the other hand now offers two awards, Best Short and Best Student Short as an incentive to school students aimed at encouraging and recognizing their creative expressions.

A new eclectic award called the Special Jury Award For Outstanding Film cuts across all the competition categories so does the Viewers’ Choice Award, which is given to the producer of the movie, most voted as liked, at the screenings by viewing participants at the festival.

Monetary prizes for best films in the competition categories are Feature Film ($6,000), Documentary ($5,000), Short ($3,000) and Animation ($3,000).