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Mama Afrika Film Festival selects gender as 2017 theme

By HILARY KIMUYU November 5th, 2017 2 min read

Women filmmakers will be celebrated in the annual Udada Festival Trust which has rebranded its festival to Mama Afrika Film Festival.

The festival which is set to run from November 7-11, in different locations in Nairobi will provide a platform for established and emerging female talent to exhibit.

For the past three years, the festival has showcased over 300 films from more than 30 countries as well as offering women filmmakers a platform to reach and interact with their audiences.

This year’s theme, Gender: Provoke, Debate and Evolve is influenced by the need to highlight the role Gender plays in film, as well as in real life.

Gender roles, stereotypes are issues that have been gaining importance in the public space. Through film, the theme will be explored and highlighted in professional and personal lives, and also how different genders experience and view the world.

The choice of the theme is influenced by the need to explore and highlight how gender influences professional and personal lives and how different genders experience and view the world.

FILM MAKING

Speaking during a press briefing at the Embassy of Spain on Friday, Spain Ambassador H. E. Javier Garcia said that his country was happy to be partnering with Mama Afrika Festival again and that he is happy they are using cinema to tell the public about gender issues.

“Spain has over the years strongly brought forth conversation around gender and has made great strides on advancing equality. Our partnership with Mama Afrika Film Festival is pegged on our countries strong support on gender issues and on the belief that cinema helps tell the public what is really happening in the society,” said Mr Garcia.

This year’s festival hopes to inspire and engage young, aspiring filmmakers and promote collaborations between universities and industry stakeholders. The opening night will be held at Pawa254 on November, 7, from 5pm.

The festival will be held at the three main universities which teach film making: Multimedia University of Kenya, Kenyatta University and the Kenya Institute of Mass Communications.

During the 5 day event the festival will showcase about 43 films which will include a line-up of Udada Film Festival winning films for the past three years. The festival will also feature films made by female students.