NGO awards N1m to upcoming filmmakers

The Public and Private Development Centre (PPDC), a Non-Governmental Organisation, has awarded the sum of One million naira to a group of upcoming filmmakers in the country.

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of PPDC, Mrs Nkemdilim Ilo, stated this at the 12th edition of the Homevida awards in collaboration with the Zuma Film Festival, in Abuja.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that two short films titled ‘Bus Ride’ and ‘Rebirth’, were premiered at the awards ceremony, with Bus Ride becoming the winner.

She said that Homevida had driven social change through film making by providing incentives for young filmmakers to produce films and create content that highlight social issues, while infusing an element of entertainment.

“We have been actively involved in driving social change through film and have done this by providing incentives for young filmmakers to produce films.

“To create contents that highlight social issues while infusing an element of entertainment.

“Last year, we held our second online Masterclass for young filmmakers themed “Accountability For Change’’ .

“We trained them on the art of film production using emerging digital technologies to produce shorts films, feature films, skits as well as documentaries, which will heighten public awareness of current societal issues,” she said.

In her remarks, Ms Nnenna Eze, Communication’s Program Officer, PPDC, said the film ‘Rebirth’, highlighted the effects of corruption in Nigeria.

Eze said the two films generally focused on governance and how the little things that the government does affects people and the society.

“It is an educational material, that shows us the importance of good governance, importance of yout participation.

“The film makers have gained experiences and they can use their experiences to go forward and make films that will touch social issues,” she said.

Mr Kinsley Nwankpa, an actor, who featured in the award winning film, Bus Ride, said that the movie highlighted bad governance and its impact on infrastructural development of the nation.

Nwankpa said that the film would go a long way in speaking to the society and channel what Nigeria is today into the minds of the people.

“When we came up with the story from our writers, we had issues based on how we were trying to future Nigeria in the film.

“We did not want to make a movie that will not make sense and then make people laugh at us, we wanted to make a movie that will go out and speak to the society and channel what Nigeria is today into the minds of people.

“We also had challenges with the sound and that was why we resulted to filming the whole movie on green screen.

“It was a dialogue driven movie so any dialogue done in the movie was done on the blue screen with the vehicle being stable.

“This was really challenging for the actors because the vehicle had no air-conditioning and the place was hot.

“The shooting lasted for six hours,” he said.

NAN also reports that the films were solely created by these young film enthusiasts. (NAN)