What started six years ago as a one-day event, has finally taken greater dimensions. Formerly known as the Night of Short Films, the competition, this year, becomes a festival.
Slated from May 4 to 11, it is a moment to celebrate artists of the Seventh Art. According to the promoter, Michel Kuaté, the overall objectives include offering a nursing ground for young film makers, encourage creativity and competition, the production of short films and above all promote potential film directors.
The weeklong movie jamboree is interwoven with different activities. The most striking innovation is the extension of the event from one night to one week. Which period will be marked by film projections every evening as from 7pm at the French Institute and in some neighbourhoods. A national tour is expected at the end of the event. Yesterday's activity was "Beach Tuesday". The jury members, led by Daouda Mouchangou, movie director, unveiled the list of films in competition at Seme Beach Hotel in Limbe, South West Region.
Projections were scheduled in the evening to entertain the hotel's clientele. Among 60 proposed movies, 19 were retained for a prize award competition in 15 different categories. Of these, 12 are home-based movies, while seven are from other African countries. Mainly in English and French Languages, they run from four to 26 minutes.
Another aspect is an on-going painting exhibition in the halls of the French Institute. Dealing with the festival's theme: "Cinema and Sustainable Development", the 10 medium-sized paintings are coloured and graphic representations of themes like "refuge disposal", "pollution", "deforestation" , "afforestation" and "the end of the World".
The artist, Corine Nyam, educates the mass on the need for the preservation of biodiversity, a sine qua non to human subsistence. Musical animation equally features on the list, given its role in accompanying movies. Come Saturday May 11, the curtains will be drawn, after a solemn prize-award and gala ceremony at Douala Bercy.
