By Kenneth Bankole
Nigeria’s premier private University, Igbinedion University, Okada, Edo State, is set to host the inaugural edition of the International Students Film Festival (ISFF) Award.
Lancelot Imasuen, foremost Nollywood Director, stated this on Wednesday during the unveiling of the committee for the festival in Okada.
Imasuen, who facilitated the event in Okada, said it was a way of giving back to the society by creating and dedicating a festival to filmmakers in training.
The Nollywood director is reputed for his monumental trajectories in the African and international film industry as a legendary and one of Africa’s most consistent filmmakers.
According to Imasuen, the vision is to see to the development of filmmakers affiliated to learning institutions such as academies and universities.
“Over time, it has been observed that student filmmakers do not get dedicated opportunities to showcase their creative work.
“This could be in part as a result of the student-status of these category of filmmakers, which may pose the threat of seeing them as unable to produce award winning masterpiece films.
“It is in this light that I got inspired to create this very first International Students Film Festival, that is set in motion to span from Nigeria to the rest of Africa and beyond,” he said.
One of the beauties of the festival, he said, was its design to travel from one location to another.
“With this development, different editions of the festival will be hosted by different institutions that will meet the required standards as captured in ISFF’s accreditation document.
“And in 2023, following an inspection of facilities by the accreditation committee of the International Students Film Festival, Nigeria’s premier private University, Igbinedion University Okada, Edo State, was found worthy to host the inaugural edition.
“With over 250 students’ made films, submitted from across the globe including Nigeria, Ghana, Cameron, Kenya, Spain and many other countries, the management of the ISFF, after a robust scrutiny selected four jury members, who were Nollywood scholars and practitioners from various institutions and film institutes.
“These jury members, after a meticulous assessment of the films, have presented 37 films selected from Africa and 22 from outside Africa for screening.
The event will take place between Oct. 12 and 15.
