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“Time for Africa” A New Film Collaboration between Europe and Africa

By Makido Austria and Eko International Film Festival Nigeria.

makido Film Vienna and EKOIFF cooperate on bringing African film making talent and European film producers together

makido and EKOIFF present the Time for Africa! film competition. Filmmakers can enter a short feature on “a European woman, who lives and works in Nigeria”. The film should be of a maximum length of 7 minutes.

The target audience is the wider public. There are no specific technical requirements. The film must be compatible with makido’s ethical guidelines and not compromise any Christian ethical values.

Applicants should be between 24 and 29 years oldand either be enrolled at a university or have graduated not longer than two years ago in July 2015.

An international jury of film experts will award the prize to the filmmakers, who best display excellence in style, substance and approach to documentary film making.

Jurors
Mr Hope Obioma Opara – EKOIFF, Nigeria
Ms Joana Adesuwa Reiterer–Human Rights Award 2009, Austria/Nigeria
MrGolli Marboe–makido, Austria

makido Film Vienna offers exciting internships to the two winners!

Who is makido? Makido stands for MArboe, KIno(German for cinema), and DOcumentary, but also alludes to the game Mikado, highlighting the playful nature with which we want to approach complex topics and that we want to treat our protagonists with particular care and sensitivity.

As traditional, value-determining groups, like political parties, churches but also families “in the conventional sense” lose their impact and significance in our society, what is shown on TV and in cinemas becomes increasingly important. It puts a special responsibility on those who produce films.

What is the focus of Time for Africa! ?

What comes to mind when you think of Africa? Images of poor starving people falling victim to natural disasters and corrupt politicians? The dominant images portrayed in the media serve only to enhance these stereotypical views.

And how are Europeans perceived in Africa? Aren’t they all well off with enough jobs for everyone?

Makido aims to challenge these stereotypes by telling nuanced and exciting stories about people living on the two continents.

“Rather than condemn or endorse the undoubted power of the media, we need to accept their significant impact and penetration throughout the world as an established fact, and also appreciate their importance as an element of culture in today’s world. The role of communication and media in the process of development should not be underestimated, nor the function of media as instruments for the citizen’s active participation in society…”

UNESCO declaration issued on 22 January 1982 at the International Symposium on Media Education in Grunwald, Germany

We strongly believe that news about Africa should be informed by
and produced in cooperation with independent African partners.
The lenses that we will apply are intercultural.

An intern will have the opportunity to work in one or more of the following roles:

-Journalist and content developer
– Camera Assistant (work with experienced camera operators, use of broadcast cameras and ancillary equipment as well as lighting equipment)
– Sound Assistant (Microphone technology, boom handling, radio microphones, personal microphones, a particular focus on voice recording)
– Editing Assistant (work with experienced video editors and directors, preparation, support and finishing of an edit, management of footage, archive handling and research)
– Delivery Assistant (finalise programs for transmission, creation of accessible versions, subtitling, DVD authoring)
– Production Assistant (an in depth experience of the complex processes required for any TV production)

Interns are expected to have experience using the following software packages: Microsoft Office, File maker Pro, Final Cut Pro, Adobe Creative Cloud, Sub-titler, Archive management, DVD Studio Pro.

Organizational details:

The placement will be for a minimum of three and a maximum of 6 months. The applicant should ideally be between 24 and 29 years old and and either be enrolled at a university or have graduated not longer than two years ago in July 2015.Females are strongly encouraged to apply. The internship will be paid. The intern is solely responsible for his or her tax declaration and social security arrangements. Makido will reimburse partly or totally the incurred cost for travel two months after the internship.

Are you interested in taking part in the competition? Please send your film on DVD, CV and motivation statement to

Mr Hope Obioma Opara, president@ekoiff.org

The deadline is 30 September 2014.
Please include
• A CV and a motivation statement, including a description of your technical skills and any references to films you have already contributed to.
• A copy of your valid passport.
• Dates of availability in 2015 and preferred length of assignment.
• A recommendation letter from academia or business.

For more information about us, please visit

http://www.makidofilm.tv/ and www.ekoiff.org

Angela Okorie Nollywood Star Actress

Don’t miss the 5^th edition of the annual Eko International Film Festival coming up in the mega city of Lagos Nigeria. Submission for the festival is still open till 30^th of June, 2014. http://www.ekoiff.org/submission-2/

The theme of this year’s edition of the festival is ”Nigerian Film Industry and the Media”.

Genevieve Nnaji Nollywood Star Actress 

The mission of Eko International Film Festival is to promote the appreciation of Arts and Culture through the motion picture arts and sciences and boost tourism in the global village.

The invitation extended to Eko International Film Festival to take part in the 9th annual conference on cultural diplomacy of University of Southern California Los Angeles USA was amazing. This conference took place on the 28th of Febraury,2014.The Nollywood Industry was represented by the President of Eko International Film Festival which attracted wild rage of professionals from various fields of endeavors was well attended.

The welcome address was from

• Ernest J. Wilson, III, (Walter Annenberg Chair in Communication and Dean of USC Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism)
Followed by the Opening Remarks by

• Jay Wang, Director, USC Center on Public Diplomacy and Associate Professor, USC Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism.

The first panelists deliberated on:
Cultural Diplomacy: Continuity and Disjuncture
This panel addressed the adaptations and changes that cultural diplomacy has undergone in the 21st century, considering the multitude of actors now present in the cultural diplomacy sphere.

Below are the professionals that took part on this sections

• Nicholas J. Cull, Director, Master of Public Diplomacy Program, USC Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism (chair)

• Senem Cevik, Assistant Professor, Ankara University, Turkey

• Judy Mitoma, Professor (Emerita) of World Arts and Cultures, UCLA

• Katerina Tsetsura, Gaylord Family Professor of Strategic Communication & Public Relations, University of Oklahoma

• Daya Kishan Thussu, Professor of International Communication and Co-Director of India Media Centre, University of Westminster

The second panelists deliberated on :
Confucius Institutes: The Globalization of Chinese Soft Power
The Confucius Institutes are a platform for Chinese cultural diplomacy through language learning and cultural exchanges. This interdisciplinary panel of experts discussed the Confucius Institutes’ operations the United States and South Africa. This panel on the Confucius Institutes is co-sponsored by the USC U.S.-China Institute.

Below are the professionals that took part during the second section:

• Clayton Dube, Executive Director, USC U.S.-China Institute at the Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism (chair)

• Falk Hartig, Post-doctoral Researcher, Frankfurt Inter-Centre-Programme on new African-Asian Interactions AFRASO at Frankfurt University, Germany

• Jennifer Hubbert, Assistant Professor of Anthropology, Lewis & Clark College

• John Layton, Assistant Superintendent, Lafayette School Corporation

• R.S. Zaharna, Associate Professor, School of Communication and Affiliate Associate Professor, School of International Service, American University

The third section was on

GREAT Britain in Emerging Markets:
How was Great Britain’s global campaign received in emerging economies? “This lunch conversation discussed the challenges and successes”

A representative from the British Prime Minister made his presentation

• Andrew Pike, Deputy Director, Prime Ministers’ Director of Strategic Partnership for the GREAT Campaign

• Jay Wang, Director, USC Center on Public Diplomacy and Associate Professor, USC Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism

The fourth section was on

Dialogues Through Film
Film festivals are flourishing around the world, yet their role in fostering cultural exchange remains under-examined. This panel examined how film festivals are a platform for creating shared cultural space.

Below are the professionals that deliberated on this section :

• Nicholas J. Cull, Director, Master of Public Diplomacy Program, USC Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism (chair)

• Samuel Douek, Director, HOLA Mexico Film Festival

• Vladek Juszkiewicz, Executive Director, Polish Film Festival Los Angeles

• Hope Obioma Opara, President & Founder, Eko International Film Festival.Lagos,Nigeria.

• Yasemin Yilmaz, Co-Founder, L.A. Turkish Film Festival

The Dialogue on Film was the section which Mr Hope Obioma Opara (President Ekoiff) participated as a panelist.
Cultural Diplomacy is the exchange of ideas, information, values, systems, traditions, beliefs, and other aspects of culture, with the intention of fostering mutual understanding”. This has at times been talked about as involving the use of soft power as opposed to hard power.
Culture is the way of life of a people. It consists of conventional patterns of thought and behaviour, including values, beliefs, rules of conduct, political organization, economic activity, and the like, which are passed on from one generation to the next by learning – and not by biological inheritance.
So many films are submitted for screening in every film festival and these films can be documentary, short film of a different genre, which the story line can based on religion, politics or culture, it can act as effective instrument for a positive change in terms of solving problems.

Members of the Delegates

Films are definitely a pathway through which Cultural Diplomacy and international relations can be conducted. In the case of the arts, and particularly in the case of ‘films as vehicles of Cultural Diplomacy’, it seems that soft power can contribute to the relations between countries and benefit both the private and public sector of a country’s economy.
Film allows the public to see a different side of the native country, a side which more than often shows the true realities rather than what the media want us to see.

Audience