When the So Called Masterclass is Not a Masterclass
"What makes a work of art a masterpiece is not the craft.
But the Imagination of the artist."
- Ekenyerengozi MichaeI Chima.
Some years ago, I was invited to participate in a Masterclass on Documentary Filmmaking by the Public Affairs Section of the Consulate of the United States of America in Lagos in the Documentary Showcase Program with American documentary filmmakers. Prominent Nigerian filmmakers in Nollywood were also invited. But the workshop was rushed by the American filmmaker teaching what was nothing new or different, but documentary filmmaking for beginners and what the Nigerian filmmakers already knew. He was teaching us what students in high school were taught in America.
Then the workshop ended abruptly without the completion of the most important sessions.
The American filmmaker started the presentation of Masterclass certificates to all the participants. But I refused to accept my own certificate with my name already written on it.
"We never had any masterclass on documentary filmmaking," I said.
The others were compelling me to accept it. I reluctantly collected it. But I dumped it later in the drawer of my desk in the office of Supple Communications Limited.
Finis.
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