… Creatives get $26,000 grants
IT was a fun filled night on Sunday, September 4, as the maiden edition of the Edo State International Film Festival dubbed ESIFF 2022, beautifully ended in grand style with dance, spoken word, comedy all fused in the award ceremony where outstanding creatives were rewarded with a total of $26,000 grants that held at the Victor Uwaifo Creative Hub in Benin City.
The festival, powered by the Edo State Government under the watch of Governor Godwin Obaseki, through the Edo State Skills Development Agency (EDOJOBS), in partnership with the Swiss Agency for Development Corporation (SDC), and the German Government (BMZ) through the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit Skills Development for Youth Employment (GIZ SKYE) Programme, brought together movie makers, investors, distributors and industry enthusiasts from around the world.
With over 1500 films from 94 countries, 200 movie screenings, elevating master classes and training, the festival served as an avenue to promote creative skills development and create job opportunities for the residents of Edo State.
Speaking at the award ceremony, Governor Obaseki said, “In Edo State, we have the most creative people in the world, and our history reflects this. We are also the most creative Africans on the continent. The talents we are celebrating tonight have emerged from a long and strong heritage of creativity. This award is to show appreciation for their work and how they choose to tell our stories.”
In her remarks, the Managing Director of Edo State Skills Development Agency (EdoJobs), Mrs. Ukinebo Dare, who also doubled as the convener and co-chairman of the festival, commended the partners, guests including the veterans and filmmakers who shared their talent and creativity with the state for a fantastic event.
She said, “We would like to invite filmmakers, and producers to employ the services of the Victor Uwaifo Creative Hub. We have world-class equipment that you need here to help you produce the best quality films.”
The award ceremony hosted by actors Rex Nosa and Linda Osifo marked the finale of the successful 4-Day festival with performances from local talents. The film entries were assessed by the official Jury panel, with winners from 15 categories emerging.
Best Feature Film (overall) won $10,000, Best Film shot in Edo and Best Indigenous Film were awarded $5,000 respectively by the governor. Three other categories were also awarded a cash prize of $2,000 each by Phoniex, for ‘Best Use of Technology Film’, ‘Best Cellphone Film’ and ‘Best Student Film’.
The award ceremony also honoured and celebrated some of the state’s indigenes who have consistently shaped the creative industry with a special award segment titled ‘HeartBeat of our Time’.
While presenting a special award to participants and winners of ‘The Rural Photography Training’ commissioned in the rural areas by GIZ SKYE Programme and EdoJobs, the Head of Programme, Tobias Wolfgarten said, “Our partnership with EdoJobs and ESIFF has been rewarding. I’m therefore delighted to present these awards to four winners from the photography competition.
“Beyond this, GIZ SKYE will also be offering entrepreneurship training to the winners whilst also exhibiting their works to help raise funding which will go directly to the winners.”
The rural photography training in the rural areas featured 24 entries and four winners were rewarded with N150,000, N100,000, N75,000, and N50,000 respectively. In addition, GIZ SKYE launched an eLearning platform called Edo State Academy to help young citizens of the state scale up with soft skills training.
Notable personalities in attendance include the wife of the governor, Mrs. Betsy Obaseki; Commissioner for Arts, Culture, Tourism and Diaspora Affairs, Bamidele Olaitan, actor and member of Lagos State House of Assembly, Desmond Eliot, Charles Inojie, Yvonne Jegede, Etinosa Idemudia, Angela Eguavoen, MC EdoPikin, Mercy Aigbe, Lasisi Elenu, and Lillian Agbefai among others.
The winning films are Tare (Best Short Film); On These Mountains (Best Indigenous Language Film), which also won the Governor’s Award for Best Indigenous Feature Film. The Funeral won Best Student Film and Best Film Makeup; Battle of the West (Best Use of Technology Film); Zara (Best Cellphone Film); Palm for Crude (Best Documentary).
Others are Omoatama (Governor’s Award for Best Film Shot in Edo State); Onaiwu (Governor’s Award for Best Feature Film (Overall), which also won Best Director, Best Film Costume; After a While won Best Film Cinematography. Benjamin Olaiye Jnr was judged the Best Actor (Male), while Victory Idahosa was Best Actor (Female).
Following the success of the maiden edition, the host and convener are scheduled to announce a date for the next ESIFF in the coming weeks.
