The second edition of the “Mobile Film Festival Africa” will take place from 3 to 31 May 2023 online. Filmmakers from Africa are invited to make a film according to the principle “1 Mobile, 1 Minute, 1 Film”, and on a free theme.
Created in 2021, this annual Pan-African film event is organized by the Mobile Film Festival with the support of several partners. The organizers confirmed that the Africa Mobile Film Festival is open to young talents “residents of the African continent”.
After Tunisia in 2022, the 2023 edition of the “Africa Mobile Film Festival” will be held in Morocco on the occasion of “Rabat, Capital of African Culture”. The award ceremony will be held on June 8 at the Renaissance Cinema in Rabat, in the presence of the jury.
The winners of the first cycle, which took place on March 24 and 25, 2022 in Tunis, were revealed at the headquarters of the French Institute in Tunis (IFT).
Films opening on February 14 will continue to be invited through April 4, 2023. The official selection, consisting of 50 films, will be announced on May 3, 2023.
The Mobile Film Festival in Africa is based on the same principle as the international version of the Mobile Film Festival which adopts the format: 1 Mobile, 1 Minute, 1 Film.
To make the festival more accessible and show the richness of different African cultures, filmmakers will be able to present their films in the languages and dialects of their choice. The films will be subtitled into French, English, Arabic and Portuguese.
On the occasion of this second edition, $46,000 will be awarded to the winners of the 50 films in the official competition. Nine prizes will be awarded related to grants that allow the winners to produce a film by professional means and with the help of an African producer.
Grand Prix Africa and Grand Prix Maroc were awarded US$10,000 each. The Morocco Grand Prix was established in honor of “Rabat, the African Capital of Culture”, and will be dedicated to Moroccan talents.
Francophone Film Prize, ACP-UE Culture Prize, Screenplay Prize, Director Prize and Documentary Prize are awarded $5,000 each. Best Actress and Best Actor award winners will each receive $500.
The winners will be selected by an eminent jury representing the diversity of African cinemas. Gad Elmaleh, the French-Moroccan comedian, actor and director, will be the jury president.
He will be flanked by five members, including Moroccan Samia Acario, actress, screenwriter and director, Sofia Alaoui, director and screenwriter, Cameroonian Benigno Françoise Elong Gomez, screenwriter and director, Congolese Rafiki Faryala, director and singer, and Kenyan Phoebe Kyoria. , project.
A press release issued by the festival stated, “The values that the festival defends are to reveal, support and accompany the talents of tomorrow in cinema by providing grants and support to allow the winners to shoot a professional short film.”
The Mobile Film Festival is an international short film festival founded in 2005 on a simple principle: 1 mobile, 1 minute, 1 film on a free theme. The goal is to encourage talent from around the world to become the managers of tomorrow.
Choosing a mobile phone removes all economic restrictions so that everyone can participate under the same conditions.
Three Tunisians were among the winners of the first edition of the Africa Mobile Film Festival: L’eau de la Vie by Souhaib El Dakhlaoui (direction award), Walid Fallah’s Le Cimetière des Inconnus (documentary award) and Houssem Benhamza’s Divisés (screenplay award).
The Grand Prix Africa, the festival’s highest honor, was awarded to the Senegalese film Je Suis Liberté, directed by Marcel M. Diouf. The festival announced that this short film about the children of students in Dakar “Kola”, is in the development stage and will be filmed in 2023, with the support of the Young Francophone Creativity Fund (JCF).
