Africa-Press – Botswana. Botswana has a lot to offer in terms of story-telling and film production as it is a home to some of the most diverse and untouched wildlife as well as rich cultures, natural beauty and cultural experiences.
As such about 200 film makers from Botswana and international spheres are attending a two-day Windscreen Festival ending today aimed to celebrate the role of Botswana and Africa in the International Wildlife Film industry.
“We decided to host our third African based Wildscreen Festival in Maun which is the gate way to the Okavango Delta. Through the event, we want to connect people with story tellers so that they can produce their own content and become story tellers as well,” said one of the experts, Lucie Muir who is the chief executive officer of Wildscreen from United Kingdom during the press conference in Maun yesterday.
Sponsored by BBC Studios Natural History Unit and Botswana Ignite, the festival attracted established and aspiring African filmmakers across the world to interact with potential buyers, sponsors as well as share experiences and expertise alongside key global industry players.
The festival will among others elevate the African Story within the global wildlife story telling and increase representation within creative and editorial roles. It will further support indigenous Africa storytelling and provide mentorship and networking opportunities. However, some experts in film production said the event was not only aimed to celebrate the role of Botswana and Africa in the International Wildlife Film industry but to also empower and train locals so that they tell stories about what Botswana could offer.
She said Africa had a beautiful history, citing the delta which she said motivated them to come to Botswana. Muir appreciated that the delta was a unique island and a paradise for wildlife hence they tend to support and mentor locals to become story tellers. She said storytelling was an incredibly powerful tool in effecting change and therefore believed that the locals and participants would take advantage of the festival to upscale their skills and start producing quality content that could penetrate the international market. Another expert, Brad Bestelink from Natural History Film Unit Botswana, who has been in the film industry for more than 15 years said the festival was an opportunity for Botswana wildlife makers and aspiring locals to engage with professionals and gain experience key in growing and developing the industry.
“This festival has the potential to grow local talent and show through various platforms what we have as a country. I call upon locals not to miss this rare opportunity to show what they are capable of. I encourage participants to ask questions so that they have full understanding of what the industry requires and eventually create quality content through both artwork, and film to become strong story tellers. Quality stories will take you a long way,” he added.
He said the market was lucrative for the industry citing that there were many platforms they could share their stories to reach the global audience. Botswana Television project manager, Vusi Ziga said government prioritised the creative industry as one key area to focus on to stimulate employment opportunities hence their partnership with Ignite Botswana aimed to focus on creative industry and entrepreneurship. Botswana, he said still remained untapped in the film sector and their collaboration included the said festival adding that they also worked on training programmes.
“We have a lot of talented youth who lacked experience and I will like to applaud the government for promoting creative industry as we managed to train a lot of Batswana youths so that they become exposed to the international stage.”
Ziga further noted that participating in film production does not require one to have a high education but to exploit their talent and skills. Through the festival, he said they wanted to sharpen their skills in order to penetrate the international market.
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