African films are increasingly present at renowned festivals. They receive awards and prizes. However, very few of them are then visible and accessible in theatres. And this is why Cinewax was conceptualised and has been running since 2014. And now Cinewax has launched its first ever online film festival for African films, a platform where subscribers can see about 30 works made by African filmmakers and the diaspora.
Named as Online African Film Festival (OAFF), the festival opened on November 15 with the youth-centric comedy Kasala directed by Ema Edosio and will close December 15. A total of 30 movies will be available, from short films, dramas and documentaries and will be accessible in fifteen countries in Africa, Europe and America. The OAFF was officially launched in ten countries, as was the case in Paris on November 14, 2018. African cinema will be held from Brussels in San Francisco to New York, Dakar, Abidjan and Cairo.
The festival dedicated to African cinema will also be marked by a contest. The jury, which will present fiction films in particular, is composed of Kenyan director Wanuri Kahiu (Friend), American producer Tilane Jones, French actress and producer France Zobda, Nollywood actor Richard Mofe Damijo and Abba Makama. Films to look out for are CJ Obasi’s Hello, Rain, (Nigeria), Kafou by Bruno Mourral (Haiti), Boda Boda Thieves by James Tayler (Uganda), to name a few. The organisers of the event hope to attract 100,000 users during the thirty days devoted to African cinema.
When Bernard Dayo isn’t writing about pop culture, he’s watching horror movies and reading comics and trying to pretend his addiction to Netflix isn’t a serious condition.
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