As part of the Real Life Documentary Festival '07, NBPC is sponsoring a training program designed to engage young African filmmakers, specifically West African filmmakers, in new media story-telling through short form. In its second year, the Real Life Documentary Festival, with its jubilant, intellectual atmosphere, is set to become a favorite West African Festival Circuit destination. The festival is organized by Awam Ampka and Lydie Diakhate: http://www.ka-yelema.com/realifefestival/For the week of June 2nd to June 8th 2008, these filmmakers will be immersed in an intensive program of lectures, content creation/editing and distribution, which will introduce them to some of the possibilities of new media as a global social tool. At the end of the week-long immersion – featuring talks, hands-on training and practical field work – students will emerge with compelling video that experiments with this brand new method of content creation and dissemination, around new media channels.
“In Short Form” will be launched in Accra, Ghana with one central theme; showcasing in brilliant short-form, a full picture of the contemporary physical and social communities around various historical slave posts in Accra, Ghana. Through several short form segments, each approximately 6 – 10 minutes, it will be the young filmmaker’s task to create an engaging portrait of the people, places, history, businesses and urban lore around these locations.
Usually considered solely in the context of their historical significance, it will be refreshing to consider their impact today – particularly from the perspective of young Ghanaian filmmakers. This generation of filmmakers can provide an interesting glimpse into questions of cultural ownership, tourist versus municipal responsibility etc. For example how does the revenue acquired from these sites affect the lives of the people in the surrounding communities, positively or otherwise?
