WIFFEN

The signature Women’s International Film Festival Nigeria (WIFFEN) launched on the 4th and 5th March 2021 at the International Conference Centre, Central Business District, Abuja. The Women’s International Film Festival Nigeria (WIFFEN) held to mark the 2021 International Women’s Day 2022.

The film festival’s call for film submissions was launched to collect women’s films from around the world. And at the end of the call for film submissions, 3,067 films were submitted from 132 countries of the world. The jury of the WIFFEN film selections were selected from France, South Africa, Canada, and Nigeria to align with the global coverage of the festival. And they provided the professional service of watching the films submitted to score them and decide the film festival selections and award winners against various indices and criteria.

The award trophies for the film festival winners were distinctly designed, produced, and branded to celebrate and continue to inspire other women in film.

The venue of the festival was secured, and partnerships were explored to strengthen the festival’s impact and boost a diverse and productive participation. Speakers were equally mobilized to facilitate workshops, panel sessions, masterclass, and other sessions at the film festival.

The film festival successfully held on the 4th and 5th March at the Niger and Benue Halls and the Executive Hall of the Abuja International Conference Centre with very rich participation from Abuja, Lagos, and other cities across the country and around the world thanks to the livestream that opened access to people to have a virtual experience of the festival. The attendance recorded a very rich presence of filmmakers, especially women, which was the true essence of the gathering.

The signature Women’s International Film Festival Nigeria (WIFFEN) launched on the 4th and 5th March 2021 at the International Conference Centre, Central Business District, Abuja. The Women’s International Film Festival Nigeria (WIFFEN) held to mark the 2021 International Women’s Day 2022.

The film festival’s call for film submissions was launched to collect women’s films from around the world. And at the end of the call for film submissions, 3,067 films were submitted from 132 countries of the world. The jury of the WIFFEN film selections were selected from France, South Africa, Canada, and Nigeria to align with the global coverage of the festival. And they provided the professional service of watching the films submitted to score them and decide the film festival selections and award winners against various indices and criteria.

The award trophies for the film festival winners were distinctly designed, produced, and branded to celebrate and continue to inspire other women in film.

The venue of the festival was secured, and partnerships were explored to strengthen the festival’s impact and boost a diverse and productive participation. Speakers were equally mobilized to facilitate workshops, panel sessions, masterclass, and other sessions at the film festival.

The film festival successfully held on the 4th and 5th March at the Niger and Benue Halls and the Executive Hall of the Abuja International Conference Centre with very rich participation from Abuja, Lagos, and other cities across the country and around the world thanks to the livestream that opened access to people to have a virtual experience of the festival. The attendance recorded a very rich presence of filmmakers, especially women, which was the true essence of the gathering.

HIGHLIGHTS

Virtual engagement was also in their thousands through the sessions and social media engagement surpassed a million in the week of the festival and continues to grow even after the festival.

The highlight of the Festival was the Awards Ceremony which had over 300 persons present including an impressive 100+ diplomatic officials present throughout the event. The awards were presented in over 16 categories and a special award to the Outstanding Juror and Inspiring Filmmaker. The 16 award categories included the Best Child Actress, Best Student Film, Best Original Score, Best Lighting, Best Sound Design, Best Costume Design, Best Production Design, Best Editing, Best Cinematographer, Best Documentary Short Film, Best Documentary Feature, Best Short Film, Best Actress, Best Director, and Best Picture.

The biggest award of the night, Best Picture, went to Ukraine which was very timely and was celebrated in grand style at the awards event. The award for Best Lighting won an additional award with lighting equipment worth $3000 donated to the winning film crew by the Aputure Lighting Company in the USA. Also, the award for Best Student Film won an additional award of $1000 to the winning film crew by the French Embassy’s PISCCA Program which was very symbolic of its support to the youth. All the winners were presented with award trophies received on their behalf by their Embassies and supporting Embassies. And the respective Embassies have promised to ship the award trophies to the winners from their countries.

Female filmmakers in Nigeria and around the world have been challenged by this Festival and are inspired to improve their films to be able to compete better globally. And even films that were not selected in this years’ festival shared feedback that they will improve their films and compete again. The Festival has successfully met one of its goals to constantly challenge female filmmakers to raise the bar on their film quality.

There is also a growing interest from the Embassies to better support future editions of the Festival and we aspire to hold the Festival bi-annually to allow for rich planning and coordination between partners and to allow for a richer festival to hold through 1 week and host several rich and empowering sessions in addition to the famous awards event.

In the immediate, the Festival is a significant umbrella that can guarantee sustained empowerment for female filmmakers. And this will embody the immediate activities that will succeed the Festival event. Targeted training and capacity building programs are planned to continue to engage with female filmmakers to improve their film production skills. And the capacity building programs will target female filmmakers in existing groups and associations to ensure sustainability and scale of the impact.

WIFFEN 2022 Film Selections