Motswana film screens in USA
Local filmmaker, Fumani Eddie Tekere’s short documentary titled ‘Mpululu Majotia’ will premiere at the 13th annual Silicon Valley African Film Festival (SVAFF) in USA. The SVAFF will be held from October 13-16, 2022 at the Historic Hoover Theatre, San Jose, California. In an interview with Arts & Culture, a jubilant Tekere said he recently received an invitation letter from SVAFF’s founding director Chike Nwoffiah to partake at the festival. He said the letter indicated that his film was among those selected to screen at the festival.
“By this selection, your film will be in competition for our festival awards. It is our practice to showcase our filmmakers during our festival and provide them opportunities to interact and network with the audience in postscreening dialogues and mixers,” read part of the invitation letter.
Tekere also said the invitation is an opportunity for local creatives to be exposed to the international market. He said he will leave for the USA with five local creatives to attend the festival. Reigning Miss Botswana queen who made a cameo in the documentary was amongst those that were scheduled to accompany Tekere on the trip. Tekere explained that the documentary, which was done in 2021 was inspired by Molefe during her unsuccessful shot at the Miss World pageant. He said the documentary was developed in collaboration with an organisation called Mokwatla wa Bomme, whose members are also casting in the film. Mpululu Majotia is translated to mean “Ululate Mrs Jotia”.
He said their participation at the festival will also be a big chance to build networking connections. He said SVAFF is a highly respected destination event that draws an avid international following of distinguished transcontinental visitors, entrepreneurs, tech executives, cinema buffs, academics, civic officials and community supporters.
According to Nwoffiah, SVAFF is the only film festival in California with exclusive focus on African filmmaking and providing sundry audiences with panoramic lenses to the subtleties of contemporary Africa. It is expected that the festival will present 100 films by seasoned and emerging filmmakers from 35 countries this year. Scheduled highlights include a Red Carpet/VIP reception, resplendent opening ceremony, with a flag parade featuring flags of the countries in the festival, live performances, film screenings, post-screening dialogues with filmmakers in attendance, African market, fashion show and awards. The festival continues to be a platform to showcase, celebrate and honour Africa’s content creators and storytellers for their inspiring work.