Have you realized that recently, our country has seen a significant increase in the number of film festivals? If you’re a filmmaker and you’re not interested in film festivals, then rethink!
The first-ever international film festival in Ghana was the Black Star International Film Festival (BSIFF), which was founded in 2016 by Juliet Asante, the newly appointed Chief Executive Officer of the National Film Authority. And from early 2018 till date, we have seen several other film festivals introduced into the country.
I believe this recent development is good for our film industry but it is not good news enough until the Ghanaian filmmaker can appreciate the importance of film festivals and decide to participate in them.
BSIFF opens submissions annually for independent filmmakers’, providing a platform for celebrating and honoring them for their great films that make it into the Festival. During the 4th edition of the Festival in 2019, Ghanaian films like Azumah, Nirvana by Richard Governor and Divine 419, went on to win top awards and gained international recognition during and after the film festival which was held in August.
For four years now, the Black Star International Film Festival (BSIFF) has received over 3,000 film submissions from filmmakers’ all over the world but sadly, very few Ghanaian filmmakers’ submit their films to the festival. Film festivals are relevant platforms to help distribute the work of filmmakers’ in an alternative way but unfortunately, many Ghanaians miss the opportunity.
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How Purposeful are Film Festivals to Ghanaian Filmmakers’ in the 21st Century?
- Film Festivals are awesome platforms for Networking:
The Black Star International Film Festival (BSIFF) offers filmmakers a unique opportunity to network and encourages dialogue between people and with the international film community; a unique platform to introduce their work, discuss relevant industry topics as well as the filmmaking process through their African Film Market within the Festival.
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- A platform for discovering talents
Each year, filmmakers submit their films to BSIFF in the hopes of getting their films their work premiered. Film festivals open doors for discovery of new and existing talents within the industry. Our industry is saturated with ‘old faces’ and the only way we can change that is embracing and patronizing film festivals. The side benefit of submitting your films is that, there is a high probability that a film can capture the attention of international distributors.
- Promoting tourism and the local economy
The Black Star International Film Festival for example, is focused on the business of film and wants to promote film tourism and advocate for an expansion of the local film economy. The platform thus, attracts attendees from around the world, ultimately boosting our local economy.
There are records of certain internationally recognized film festivals, like Toronto International Film Festival-TIFF contributing over $180million to their city’s economy and the Sundance Film Festival contributing over $400milliion to their State.
- Win astounding cash prizes
Another benefit of submitting your film to a film festival like BSIFF is that, you get to win some good money if you win an award category. BSIFF has introduced the ‘Odehye3’ award category for Ghanaian filmmakers’ and it is a good opportunity to get some money plus establish lifetime connections.
Ghanaian filmmakers’ must help Ghana tell her wonderful stories by pushing themselves to doing quality work that meets the standards of international film festivals and together let’s showcase the value of film, both creatively and economically. Trying doesn’t hurt, so just try; you never know!
If you want to submit your film to the 5th edition of the Black Star International Film Festival to be held in August, send a mail to bsiffsubmissions@gmail.com or Whatsapp number 0506481853 for enquiries on how to submit.
By Bentuma Arthur