The 6th Africa International Film Festival happened to be one of the best events that have brought African filmmakers together, but many have praised the initiative for going the extra mile in training young people in different aspects of film-making.

One of such training’s was the practical session with Canon which helped the trainees on the use of cameras for clearer pictures and better film angles, among other techniques.

According to one of the beneficiaries, Emeka Loveday, who was full of gratitude to the organizers of the festival, the Canon training was nothing short of excellence.

He said: “It was a good experience having to meet with other filmmakers who are passionate about the craft and having someone from Canon taking us through the whole process of DSLR and film-making. Even though I had some practical knowledge of camera operations,  I still discovered that there were lots of things that I was not really taking into consideration while I was doing most of my shoots, but the Canon training has exposed me to lots of things that I should put into serious factor whenever I’m shooting.”

According to Loveday, “while in the film-making class with the facilitators, I actually learnt some basic things in the aspect of camera settings; things like the usage of shorter speed, aperture and ISO setting. These were things I used to take for granted, but from the lectures and interactive sessions, I discovered that these settings do affect the picture at the end of the day. From what I’ve learnt now, I won’t want to go to the old ways but to do something better as I have learnt during the AFRIFF/Canon classes.

Canon Central and North Africa (CCNA) had supported the AFRIFF developmental initiative for young African filmmakers at the just concluded festival.

The training offered cutting-edge professional technology that is used internationally.

The partnership with AFRIFF, according to Katie Simmonds, Canon’s Strategic Operations Professional, underlines the company’s focus on supporting Nigeria to build the next generation of talent who will drive the growth of the country’s television, film and photography sectors.

Meanwhile, the beneficiaries are expected to travel to Montana State University for further training courtesy of AFRIFF partner Airline, Air France.

They include, Mena Sodje, Jumoke Aderonmu, Tosin Adeyemi, Joseph Ottoman and Hannah Babatunde for Acting; Jennifer Eneanya, Olubunmi Ajiboye, Lois Burutu, Cynthia Okoroafor and Lani Aisida for Scriptwriting; Marvellous Michael, Bolaji Adelakun, Moyo Shomade, Chisom Ifeakandu, Richard Ofoe, Vivian Ubochi and Ngozi Emmanuel for Filmmaking.