9th iREPRESENT International Documentary Film Festival To Host Top Filmmakers and Scholars in Lagos


IREPRESENT INTERNATIONAL DOCUMENTARY FILM FESTIVAL 2019: PUBLIC BRIEFING


The 2019 iREPRESENT International Documentary Film Festival is the ninth edition of the popular annual festival, which is the biggest on the West African coast and it is scheduled to hold from Thursday 21st to Sunday 24th March 2019, at Freedom Park, Broad Street, Lagos, and the Nigerian Film Corporation, Ikoyi, Lagos, Nigeria.



The 2019 Festival is conceived on the traditional framework of Africa in Self-conversation and will explore the theme “STORYLINES”.


The programme proposition for the 2019 edition will include:
Film Screenings
Screening of over 30 carefully selected international films representing the best new works relevant to our theme of Africa-in-Self-Conversation. Films screening at the festival would happen across two venues; Freedom Park, Lagos, and Nigerian Film Corporation, Ikoyi. Films scheduled for Freedom Park would screen alongside plenary and other discussions, while the screening at the NFC would be uninterrupted run of films for up to 6 hours every day of the festival. Films selection is in conjunction with our co-curating partners; African World Documentary Film Festival (AWDFF), AGDOK, and German Documentaries.
iREP/ITPAN Documentary Film Pitch Forum.
The Independent Television Producers Association of Nigeria in partnership with iREP will host a pitch for documentary filmmakers. Documentary film makers in Nigeria, young and old, shall be given opportunity to present their non-fictional film project ideas with special focus on social/cultural developments in and around Africa before a selection panel. The proposed pitching forum seeks to grow and encourage a spirited generation of factual filmmakers.

Paper Presentations and Panel Discussions
Keynote speeches and presentations at iREP Film Festival are important events not to be missed. This year, we would push conversations even further, as we bring leaders of thought in filmmaking and film theory in conversation with the community of filmmakers present at the festival, it would be an in-depth interaction that goes beyond the top-down approach of paper presentations.

Tunde Kelani, Top Nigerian award winning filmmaker.

Training/Workshops:
Through the iREP Training and workshop platform, we have been able to train over 200 young and upcoming filmmakers in the rudiments of filmmaking and understanding of the documentary film art.
We would expand the platform this year to accommodate the ever growing number of participants. A total of 70 young and upcoming filmmakers would be trained in the Basics of Storytelling, and the Vision of the Director. The iREP Training is in partnership with Nigerian Film Corporation (NFC).

IREP Cocktail:
The cocktail is our way of welcoming our international guests to the festival, but more importantly, it serves as a platform for networking. The iREP cocktail is our night of little glitz, drinks, talks, networking and screening of a specially selected film.

THE 2019 THEME:
STORYLINES
The theme of the 2019 festival, STORYLINES, arises from current realities about imagery and perspectives. Technology is constantly redefining the impact of human experiences and challenging us to tell our story as a means of engaging the world with our identity, individuality and personal experiences.
Every human being is a story and we are constantly in pursuit of tools to advance and promote alternative facts about ourselves and how we wish to be seen. The contention between what is real and what is preferred is shaping the currency of human exchange.
The ability to construct and reconstruct stories by anyone with a social media account is challenging the traditional story form. How would people own their stories without compromising the truth? How would documentary films respond to this reality? The festival theme is conceived on the traditional framework of Africa in Self-conversation.

SOME OF THE GUESTS/RESOURCE PERSONS TO IREP 2019


PROF. AWAM AMKPA
Former Senior Lecturer of Drama and Television at King Alfred’s University College, Winchester, England, and Assistant Professor of Theatre Arts at Mount Holyoke College. Author of Theatre and Postcolonial Desires, London: Routledge, 2003 and forthcoming Archetypes, Stereotypes and Polytypes: Theatres of the Black Atlantic. Director of film documentaries such as Winds Against Our Souls, Its All About Downtown, National Images and Transnational Desires, and feature film Wazobia! Author of several articles in books and journals on Modernisms in Theatre, Postcolonial theatre, Black Atlantic Issues, and Film studies.


PROF. NIYI COKER
Niyi Coker, Jr. is the E. Desmond Lee Distinguished Professor of Theatre and Media Studies at the University of Missouri, Saint Louis. He has directed over fifty major stage productions around the world. He is the founding artistic director of the African Arts Ensemble in NYC, and has served as Artistic Director-in-residence for several theatre companies ranging from the National Theater of Nigeria; K3 Theatre in Malmo, Sweden; Black Box Theatre in Hamilton, Bermuda. He received a British Council commission to write and direct, “Endangered Species”, which toured Great Britain in 1995. In 2010 his latest play “Preemptive” opened at the Shaw Theatre in London, England and was covered by BBC Strand in England. The production went on to tour in the Caribbean and West Africa.


THEO LAWSON
Studied architecture at the Architectural Association School, London between 1978 and 1985, where he experimented with both traditional African and High-tech design styles. Back in Nigeria he studied earth construction techniques culminating in he’s being invited to design and build the Bauchi State Museum in 1987. In 1990, he set up Total Consult, a design and build practice, and worked on many commercial and residential building projects. Total Consult also evolved into designing Stage sets and grew to become the market leader over a fifteen-year period. In 1999, he teamed up with other designers to form the “C.I.A.” (Creative Intelligence Agency), a Collaborative that spearheaded ideas for Lagos in the Millennium. This led to the conception and realization of “Freedom Park”, now Lagos’ most vibrant Arts space. He has also worked on other Public space projects that include; The Motherlan’ performance centre, University of Lagos Anniversary Park and the Kalakuta Museum to name a few.
Theo Lawson will keynote on “Urban Art Spaces and stories.” He will also be speaking in an afternoon session on “Globalizing the African story through music.”


DR PAUL UGOR
Assistant Professor, Illinois State University. Paul Ugor earned his Ph.D. in English and Film Studies from the University of Alberta, Canada in 2009, and in 2010 was awarded the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) Postdoctoral fellowship in Canada. Ugor was also lucky to be awarded the prestigious Newton International fellowship by the British Academy, which took him to the Centre for West African Studies, University of Birmingham, UK. While at CWAS he researched on the new socio-economic challenges confronting young people in three different cities in Nigeria and the new existential strategies these youth have developed to cope with the vicissitudes of life in precarious postcolonial urban spaces. After his fellowship in Birmingham, Ugor worked as a sessional faculty in the Department of English and Cultural Studies, at McMaster University, Canada from where he joined Illinois Sate University in the fall of 2014.


PROFESSOR JONATHAN HAYNES (Ph.D)
Jonathan Haynes is Professor, English Department, Long Island University, Brooklyn, New York. For two decades he has been closely following the growth of the Nigerian film industry, Nollywood. He spent three years in Nigeria as a Fulbright Lecturer at the University of Nigeria-Nsukka, Ahmadu Bello University, and the University of Ibadan. Guest professor at the University of Cologne in Germany. Specializes in African studies; African film, video, and literature; colonialism and post colonialism; English Renaissance literature. He has several publications including; "Nollywood: The Creation of Nigerian Film Genres. U of Chicago P, 2016," and "Nigerian Video Films. Ed. Jonathan Haynes. Athens: Ohio UP, 2000."


DR. TUNJI AZEEZ
Tunji Azeez is an Associate Professor of Theatre and Film Arts, and Fellow, American Council of Learned Societies at the Department of Theatre Arts & Music, Lagos State University. An Arts and Media Consultant, Content Developer, former Acting Head of Department and Associate Professor of Theatre and Film and Media Arts, Lagos State University, Dr. Azeez served in the African Movies Academy Awards (AMAA) College of Screeners from 2008 to 2013. His research interests are Gender/Feminist Theory and Criticism, War and Peace Studies, Theatre for Development (TfD), as well as Media and Cultural Studies, with particular emphasis on Film Studies. He has published three books and several articles in books and journals. He recently co-edited a book, entitled, Inside Nollywood: Issues and Perspectives on Nigerian Cinema, with Dr. Sola Fosudo.


TOLULOPE OLAMIDE AJAYI
Tolu is an accomplished and knowledgeable creative professional with a wealth of experience in advertising, broadcast production and film making. He began his journey into creativity as a young intern cartoonist at Vanguard Newspapers at the age of 16, which has evolved into a career that is both of heartfelt passion and professional achievement. Over the past 20 years, Tolu has been channeling his talents into creating some of Nigerian advertising’s most memorable moments working with brands like P&G, MTN, Access Bank, Guinness, GT bank and many others.

ABOUT IREP:
The iREPRESENT International Documentary Film Festival was initiated with the objective of promoting independent documentary filmmaking in Nigeria and on the continent of Africa. The Festival places emphasis on training and skill development to the benefit of the young, aspiring and practising filmmakers in Nigeria, especially for those with flair for Documentary films. The annual iREP Film Festival is conceived as a celebration of the best works in the world of documentary films while providing an intense learning environment for young and aspiring filmmakers. iREP is conceptualized to also create a platform of awareness and expression for filmmakers who are creating socially relevant films to positively impact our world. The festival features hands-on training and skills development workshops facilitated by an array of the most experienced practitioners in the field of documentary film making across Africa.


The Conceptual framework of iREP Documentary Film Festival is AFRICA IN SELF-CONVERSATION; and it is designed to promote awareness about the power of documentary to deepen social and cultural education as well as encouraging participatory democracy in our societies. Though exploring the framework, the theme for every edition varies every year, and embraces issues pertaining to Africa’s social, political, cultural, spiritual and economic realities. To fully engage an array of trans-cultural creativity, iREP provides a forum or everyone’s ingenuity to be showcased without prejudice to style or subject. iREP celebrates the ever-expanding world of documentary films by inviting talents from across the globe to share ideas on trends and technological advancements in the format.

Contacts:
iREP INTERNATIONAL DOCUMENTARY FILM FORUM
3b, Olawale Onitiri Street, Admiralty, Lekki Phase 1, Lagos.
www.irepfilmfestival.com
info@irepfilmfestival.com

FEMI ODUGBEMI
Executive Director/Co-Founder
0803 425 1963, 0705 331 1512
femiodugbemi@gmail.com

JAHMAN ANIKULAPO
Co-Founder/Director
0803 307 6418
jahmanoladejo@gmail.com

MAKIN SOYINKA
Co-Founder/Director
0803 403 0646
panseke@gmail.com

THEO LAWSON
Director
0803 307 0702
theolawson@yahoo.com

Download the IREP 2019 press kit:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1-rQB6OVijWavT5AKtXxBnxV5P0scqK9D.


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