– Cameroon International Film Festival to introduce two new categories this year; overview and online social media content creation
– The festival will comprise of 63 films from more than 32 countries
By Ikome Christie-Noella Eposi in Buea
The Founder and CEO of the Cameroon International Film Festival, Agbor Gilbert Ebot, has in a recent press briefing decried Cameroon government’s neglect towards the affairs of CAMIFF in the region and nation as a whole.
He was speaking recently in Buea wherein he stated that from the inception of the festival in Cameroon, the government has never been there for CAMIFF.
“Most of what we do for CAMIFF doesn’t receive sponsorship from the government. The highest content comes from the South West and North West but we don’t have sponsorship. The more we target content buyers, the more we need government to accompany us. We are barely struggling to put CAMIFF on its feet.
He called on the government of Cameroon to see the importance of respecting their social corporate responsibility. “There is no proper leadership, management and coordination especially from the government and sponsors. Somebody needs to take the responsibility and see if corporate bodies are supporting such initiatives. Buea is the hub of entertainment in Cameroon. The government of Cameroon needs to understand the importance of a festival like this especially as it goes a long way to reduce unemployment”
“If the government of Cameroon was as co-operative as the government of other countries towards their film and entertainment industries, we would not be where we are today. We have created a room for employment and the government needs to support us” Agbor Gilbert reiterated.
“We are equally going to offer parties for our guests; festival delegates and festival attendees. We are going to visit traditional rulers and administrators. We are going to have our usual cultural night on Wednesday and on Thursday we will have our mass gala. We live in a community highly affected by the crisis. We will use the mass gala to also commemorate with what is going on around us and to share our own little support to addressing the crisis. Friday is an all-white party and on Saturday we shall have the closing ceremony with an award night”
The organizing committee also headed by the Vice President, Billy Bob Ndive Lifongo noted that CAMIFF 2023 is a special year due to the two main innovations. “The festival is going to be bigger because we are inviting more persons from the rest of the world. We are bringing people from countries that were never present like Botswana, America, Kenya, Nigeria and so many other countries. This year we are bringing people from other works of life to anchor our different symposiums and colloquiums. The competition is going to be tougher because we have expanded our horizons in the categories”.
“This year is also special because we shall give participation certificates to all our mater classes’ students. We are going to have at least 5 master classes this year where students from the University will be here to study film making. It is broad and getting bigger” he added.
Adding his voice was the Secretary General, Palmer Ngale Mbua who said CAMIFF is 100% to set the ball rolling. “We already have our shuttles in place to pick up our invitees from the Douala international airport. Lodging facilities are ready and everything concerning logistics is set”.
Some activities to characterize the festive period include; film acting (Master class), film acting (Cinematography), film photography, film acting (master class on directing, script writing), behind the scenes, workshops on film profiling and management, film and business workshop, a workshop on film, peace and social cohesion etc.
Awardees shall be recognized in film categories such as; feature film international, Cameroon feature film, short film, documentary and CAMIFF overview, online social media content creation, honorary awards, lifetime awards etc. the festival is expected to run from April 24 to 29 2023.