A total of 45 films will be screen at the Lakecity Film Festival (LACIFF) which maiden edition is to take place at the Crystal Lake Resort, Oguta, Imo State from December 16 to 18 under the theme: ‘The reel is yours, show your story’.
After receiving a whopping 2,900, organisers extended the deadline for the submission of films to December 9. A college of screeners reduced the large number to 100. The final 45 films emerged through assessment by the judges, including Sani Muazu (head jurist), Yinka Ogun, Bond Emeruwa, Kathy Kasic from the United States of America and Tari West-Johnson.
Apart from the opening and closing films, CJ Obasi’s film, ‘O-Town’ and Joe Brown Ubaka’s award winning ‘The Missing God’, respectively, other films among the 45 include: ‘Solone Will Never Walk Alone The Movie’, a documentary from Sierra Leone; ‘Bloody Throne’, a short film from Lesotho; ‘Black Barbie’, an animation from Ghana. Others are: a short film from India titled ‘1973 The Untold’, one from the USA titled ‘Honor’, a feature from Kosovo titled ‘Cheating for Paper’ and ‘Kizingo’ a feature from Kenya.
Of the 45 films, 21 are from Nigeria, followed by Ghana with four, three from India, while Nepal, Kenya and USA have two each. Kosovo, Jamaica, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Burkina Faso, Tanzania, Latvia, Lesotho, Kyrgysztan and Saudi Arabia have one film each.
As expected, it was a near herculean but rewarding task for the judges to come up with the final list of 45 films.
Speaking on the choice of opening and closing film, Ekine Stronghold, founder of the festival, had earlier explained that “the films were strategically chosen to give people a sense of belonging and to tell guests they should come with their best film next year because our best can match your best”. He said that culture, arts, history, tourism and environment would be proudly showcased at the festival and that there will be master classes on cinematography and editing courtesy Ford Foundation with facilitators expected from the United States of America and Europe.
Partners of the festival include the Imo State Government, Ford Foundation, Crystal Lake Resort, Africa International Film Festival (AFRIFF) and Oguta Youth Empowerment Scheme among others.