ANF X AFRIFF 2023
Entries are now open for the new Narrative-Change Film Award by Africa No Filter and Africa International Film Festival
20 September 2023: Lagos, Nigeria: Africa No Filter (ANF) today announced a partnership with the Africa International Film Festival (AFRIFF) and a new award that celebrates films that tell the story of Africa beyond stereotypes.
The Africa Narrative-Change Film Award is aimed at promoting films within the African cinema industry that contribute to a better representation of Africa. To this end, ANF is partnering with mission-aligned film platforms like AFRIFF to institute a film award category that acknowledges filmmakers who have used compelling storylines that defy the prevalent harmful stereotypical narratives about Africa or within Africa. The winning filmmaker will receive $5,000.
The award is part of Africa No Filter’s broader advocacy campaign that’s calling for better representation of Africa to show a dynamic, creative and evolving continent. ANF’s call for entries for the Africa Narrative-Change Film Award 2023, which will be presented at the AFRIFF Gala and Awards Night, is now open on www.afriff.com. Submissions close on 18 October 2023.
In expressing the AFRIFF team’s excitement and enthusiasm for the collaboration, AFRIFF Programme Director, Mr. Ikenna Ezenyirioha, stated: “As firm believers in the power of cinema to change society and drive social justice, over the years, we have been committed to finding fresh new voices and exceptional filmmakers who are deliberate in shifting the paradigm in ethical and creative storytelling for our film programme. We are happy to collaborate with Africa No Filter to continue driving that process forward and enlarge the vision for African cinema.”
Speaking about the initiative, Africa No Filter’s Grants Lead, Dr. Victor Mark-Onyegbu, stated: “We seek to spotlight African filmmakers who are intentional about telling African stories better and telling better African stories. These are films that show Africa’s exceptionalism and highlight our creativity and innovation; films that entertain and inspire, show the unexpected and promote the positive by centering new voices, new heroes and new stories contemporary settings and characters who have agency, to reflect the Africa we want.”
Inquiries: Ikenna@afriff.com
ABOUT AFRICA NO FILTER
Africa No Filter exists because many stories about Africa still lazily revolve around the single story of poor leadership, poverty, corruption, disease, and conflict. These stories fail to portray the other more progressive side of Africa and collectively perpetuate the narrative that Africa is broken, dependent and lacks agency. The result? Harmful stereotypes that continue to paint a rigidly negative picture of the continent, despite the massive strides we are making. Our mission at Africa No Filter is to shift these stereotypes because they impact the way the world sees Africa and how Africa sees itself. Through research, grant-making, community building and advocacy, we support storytellers to help shift the stereotypical narratives about Africa one story at a time. Our funders are the Ford Foundation, Bloomberg, Mellon Foundation, Luminate, Open Society Foundations, Comic Relief, the Hilton Foundation, and Hewlett Foundation.
ABOUT AFRICA INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL (AFRIFF)
The Africa International Film Festival (AFRIFF), conceived by Ms. Chioma Ude, is a world-class showcase that celebrates Cinema and filmmaking talent from Africa and the diaspora. It consistently delivers a rich programme to foster invaluable exchanges of ideas, production connections, and business relationships. It creates an energetic and exciting hub for entertainment industry professionals to make rewarding connections and has gradually gained a reputation for delivering Africa’s most vibrant film festival experience. Its objectives are to develop the film industry to a level where the products compete favorably with their contemporaries all over the 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. www.afriff.com
