The Architect Africa Film Festival now in its tenth year, starts
tomorrow 23rd of June. Interestingly, this year marks the first time the
film/production of a Nigerian director will be screened. Femi
Odugbemi's documentary 'Makoko Futures Afloat' which shows the plight of
the residents of the area and also Kunle Adeyemi's 'Floating school',
will be flying the flag for Nigeria.
The festival takes places every two years.
At
the inaugural event in 2007, 'Lagos Wide & Close' a film by Rem
Koolhaas the Pritzker Prize-winning Dutch architect, theorist, and
provocateur, was screened.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
17 June 2016
#AAFF2016 - DESIGN is: UNIVERSAL | GLOBAL | LOCAL
Advances
in digital communications and media have changed the way we live, work
and play. The power of film as a socially equitable, environmentally
considerate and economically effective platform to communicate new
concepts, concerns and ground-breaking ideas has never been greater.
Previously
unheard voices can now be heard; new spaces and opportunities are
opening up all around us all the time; and we’re able to engage around
common causes in ways that previous generations could not.
This year,
the Architect Africa Film Festival (#AAFF2016) has capitalised on the
rapidly evolving power of film as an easily-accessible means of
communication, to put together a top-quality selection that will engage,
inform and inspire our audiences around the topics Architecture as
Universal Language; Architecture as a Language of Global Capitalism; and
Architecture as Local Engagement.
As part of our selection process, a
‘Call for Entries’ was circulated locally through stakeholders and the
media, and internationally through our partner festivals – to open up
the #AAFF2016 as a showcase for new productions, emerging filmmakers and
students. The #AAFF2016 selection panel comprising Professors Lesley
Lokko, Lone Poulsen, and Jyoti Mistry, in collaboration with our curator
Dr Costanza la Mantia, then evaluated submissions based on
watchability, technical execution, relevance of message, and relation to
architecture.
Highlights from our ‘Call for Entries’ in the #AAFF2016 programme include:
Makoko. Futures Afloat. (2015)
Director: Femi Odugbemi
In
the heart of Nigeria’s fastest growing city, Lagos, two worlds
constantly live out the irony of economic realities. Divided by the
popular third mainland bridge, the bustling economic part of the city
stands adjacent to MAKOKO – a sprawling fishing community, floating on
the waste of the city. Neglected by the government, MAKOKO strives for a
place in the fortune and future of the city, by the effort of
individuals who focus on educating children who otherwise would not have
had any opportunity for formal education.
