iREP INTERNATIONAL DOCUMENTARY FILM FESTIVAL

The 13^th iRepresent International Documentary Film Festival, which has held traditionally in the third week of march every year, is slated for March 16-19. This is within the election season which starts with the Presidential and National Assembly polls on February 25 and, the Governorship and House of Assembly polls on March 11. This coincidence would naturally have optioned either a postponement or outright cancellation of the festival, which seems logical.

However, with determination not to miss out on the historical trajectory of the festival, especially after the major disruption occasioned by the Covid19 pandemic lockdowns of 2020 and 2021, the Board and management of the Foundation for the Promotion of Documentary Film in Africa, organisers of the annual documentary film festival, have resolved to stage a minimised version of the festival at same appointed date.

The coincidence with the electioneering season, of course, has consequential disruptions to the nature and character of the festival. Essentially, it also has implication for the thematic thrust of the festival. Thus, unlike in previous editions, in which the festival embraces global thematic thrust, the 2023 festival would specifically focus on Nigeria in its season of epochal political transition.

The theme: Documenting the Underserved: Agenda for Nigeria 2023, has been strategically designed to address cogent issue in the national polity, which essentially is about enthroning responsible political system that insists on good governance and participatory democracy – two ingredients that have been lacking in Nigeria’s chequered 24-year-old democratic journey which began in 1999.

Part of the objectives of the theme is to direct attention of particularly young people to the power of documentary films in empowering them to be active participants in the discourses in their socio-political, economic and cultural environment.

Specifically, the theme, as would be reflected in choice of films to be screened and discussions at the minimised plenary, is to spotlight the powerful tool the young people have in their hands through their smart phones and other electronic gadgets, through which they could expose the needs of their communities for the benefit of their elected representatives, who hopefully would be assuming their various offices with fresh mindset of serving the interest of their people.

As feared, the Gubernatorial and House of Assembly elections slated for Saturday, March 11 has been shifted to Saturday March 18, which runs smack into the March 16-19 date for the 2023 iREP Documentary Film Festival. The Board and Programme Directorate of the festival have, however, resolved to PROCEED with the festival as scheduled.

The IREP runs from Thursday through Sunday; as it stands, only the Saturday Programing content will be adversely affected. This means that the Plenary sessions (all virtual) will run as planned, only the evening screening on Saturday evening at the various centres will be affected.