Nigeria’s first documentary festival, iRepresent International Documentary Film Festival is billed to open in Lagos at Terra Kulture with screenings and performances at multiple locations including its traditional base, Freedom Park Broad Street and Art Factory hall of the Crown Troupe of Africa in Bariga Lagos from 9am, 17 to 20 March.
Popularly known as The iREP Festival and on its 12th edition will showcase 80 carefully selected films including Greener Pastures by Eyes of a Lagos Boy drawn from 28 countries that cuts across four continents. The idea is to focus on how Africa is being represented or otherwise by filmmakers and storytellers who engage in issues of the continent.
With its conceptual framework remaining faithful to “Africa in Self-Conversation,” this year’s edition is themed: UNFILTERED: African stories. Stories of Africa. “It is about understanding the distinctions and dissections that aid, preserve and protect a balance in how we are represented as Africans beyond the tired stereotypes that we find in the global news media.” said Femi Odugbemi, Co-Founder/Executive Director of iREP Festival.
Odugbemi pointed out further, “More satisfying is the fact that many African anglophone and francophone filmmakers converge annually at iREP to attend our Producers Roundtable events. We create the perfect opportunity for collaborations and co-productions through various networking events. He added, “This year’s edition is a hybrid – it will be both virtual and physical.”
The IREP festival typically is a 4-day program of screenings, networking, presentations and panel discussions, and a training workshop designed for emerging filmmakers.
The 2021 iREP virtual festival was in partnership with Africa World Documentary Film Festival (AWDFF) in SanDiego, California which brought a new diverse and far-reaching audience to the iREP experience, it recorded over 5,000 participants in 4-days. The collaboration with AWDFF continues this year.
For Femi Odugbemi and partners, Jahman Anikulapo, Makin Soyinka, Theo Lawson, Prof. Awam Amkpa, Prof. Niyi Coker and team of advisors and festivals volunteers, “The greatest ambition of iREP is to take documentary filmmaking out of the hands of institutions, where for all these years it was used as a tool for propaganda, and put it in the hands of individuals as a tool for exploring and projecting our collective desire for progress and prosperity.”
The festival that has become a leading light of documentary film production and expression in Africa.
The 2022 iREP festival opens with the critically acclaimed film ‘PRESIDENT’ by Camilla Nielsson.
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