Hope Obioma Opara is the founder and president of Eko International Film Festival (EKOIFF), which sixth edition will take place from November 16 to 21. The publisher from Abia State, who started out in printing, is also a registered advertising practitioner. In this interview with Assistant Life Editor, TERH AGBEDEH, he talks about the challenges of running a film festival.
The Eko International Film Festival (EKOIFF) is in its sixth edition this year.
Yes.
You must have really toiled considering that it is no mean feat to organise an event of such magnitude in Nigeria.
It is a hard road to travel. But one thing keeps you going: when you see the vision, you keep the faith that you will overcome by establishing a very big film festival in this our demography.
You have been to festivals around the world; was that the reason you started EKOIFF.
When I started Supple magazine, I was privileged to interview a culture attache at the French embassy then. After seeing my magazine, he advised me to start writing on film and film festivals. Then I had the opportunity to be at the film festival in Nantes, France. That was in 2008, and I came back with the desire to see how we can replicate some major film festivals in the country. That was what brought up the whole idea and here I am today.
Would you say the time had come for film festivals in the country, when you started?
I think the major film festival then was Abuja International Film Festival (AIFF) which is organised by (I will call him my boss in Nollywood) Fidelis Duker. We are very close, so I tap some experience from him. That is the major film festival we have. ZUMA is biannually and not too good. So when you look at Lagos as the nerve of Nollywood and the commercial city of the country, I think having a world class film festival was preeminent that there was no other choice than to start work around that.
Where do the bulk of your films come from?
To use this year as a reference point, we have received about 3,114 films from about 118 countries. We are not doing an African film festival that is basically of African demography, it is an international film festival. Topping the list is America with over 200 films, which includes feature films, short films, documentary features short documentaries, even student films. We have even received films from Japan, Indonesia, Australia, Canada, Peru, Argentina and all the Asian countries. In fact, there is no single country in Asia or Europe that didn’t put in a film. We also got films from more than half of the African countries. That shows you the spread of the festival; so it is a global event.
Is the partnership you had with Makido last year still on for this year?
No, that was a short film competition, but it came at a very wrong time because it is about a European woman who works and lives in Nigeria when the Ebola (virus) disease was rampant. It was very difficult, almost impossible, for us to have done something. Those in the hospitality business were hardest hit because people stopped coming to Nigeria.
This year, you must be expecting a lot of visitors?
Yes, we expect about 3,000 people to attend and we are hoping that they would come.
Are you going to house all of them?
We have hotels in Lagos.
So they will pay their way?
Yes. If we had a key sponsor, the tradition is that we should also perfect those people’s logistics. They are to come with one or two of their cast.
People have said that the Nigerian visa is one of the most difficult to get. Is that your experience with people who come to your festival?
What we normally do is send (the guest) a letter of invitation and copy the Nigerian embassy in that country. Last year, we had a visitor from India, his film was also nominated for the Oscars. When I wrote him, I copied the Nigerian embassy in New Delhi and in three days he got his visa. You need to notify our foreign missions of the countries you are having a visitor from. That makes it easier for the visitor to Nigeria to get his visa.
How is getting sponsorship for the festival working out for you?
It has always been hard and I think it has to do with, to some extent, the Nigerian factor. Most times, it is who you know; other times, it is who can get attracted to what you are trying to establish. At times they would tell you that they need to see how long you have done it before they can come in. In foreign countries, it doesn’t work like that. When you see a vision, you follow the vision and help to build it up. In government circles in particular, I would say that those who film festival is under their purview don’t understand what it is all about.
But your festival is named after Eko, and one expects that you should have an arrangement with the government of Lagos State?
Is it not those in culture and tourism that should look at how they can leverage this film festival to start bringing people to the country? That should even be the first step before corporate organisations will start to come in because it is about tourism. Like now, I have been to several film festivals in seven European countries. I have also been to some in the United States, including the Oscars. So, for you to attend, you are moving from one point to another; that is encouraging tourism. One other thing that happens during such visits is that there might be some investment potentials visitors can see within the country and tap into it. Most times people use events like film festivals as an aperture to see the country.
No film festival survives without corporate sponsorship or government partnership all over the world. But maybe when the pharaoh who knows Joseph comes in, then we can start enjoying them.
But have you even approached the Lagos State government where the festival is domiciled?
The Lagos State government endorsed it in 2013.
What does that mean exactly in naira and kobo?
Governments have a lot on their table, and if they don’t give you money, don’t frown about it, (because) they do not owe you. Just believe that one day somebody will say, we are the host state or country, how can we support this financially? That will come, but that should not deter you from doing what you are doing.
How many films will you screen this year and where is it going to take place?
First of all, the venue is still Silverbird Cinemas in Victoria Island, Lagos. They have been partnering with us. But if we have sponsorship, we will be able to spread the screening; so that if you are in Ikeja, you don’t need to come to Victoria Island to watch the films. That is the standard. I remember when I was in Berlin in 2010; they sold over 600,000 tickets because the public wanted to watch. But that tradition is still coming to the country because 90 per cent of the people in the industry don’t go to film festivals. You must continue to enrich yourselves with new inventions and ideas, and that is what film festivals are about.
Do viewers who come to watch the screenings at the festival pay?
It is still free; but over time we will monetise it.
Is there a plan for the future to have a place where the festival takes place?
In the next five years, I wish I have become a billionaire; I will have a film festival centre whereby if you are coming for Eko International, you enter a hall that can take up to 3,000 people. But when it comes to where to house guests, we will continue to partner with the hospitality industry. We can add value by introducing shuttles that will take visitors to the festival venue. That will be exclusive to those with films in competition. The rest will fend for themselves, just like we do when we attend festivals abroad.
Do you also hope to offer training to young people in all aspects of film?
We are having a collaboration with Pan Atlantic University for a workshop that is going to be on distribution during the festival this year.
Sometime ago, there was an imbroglio over the name and ownership of the festival; what has become of that?
I think that is about four years ago and good will always rule over evil. That is all I will say about that.
