Villafest Film Festival Lights Up Imo

The quiet city of Owerri, the Imo State capital recently had an army of film makers, painters, sculptors and culture enthusiasts who stormed the maiden edition of the village arts and film festival, Villafest.
The festival which climaxed with a colourful awards night held at Beland Hotel signalled a revival of the moribund culture activities in the heartland state.
The film and arts festival held between December 16 and 18 at the states Centre for Arts and Culture opened with the  screening of films from eight countries including Cameroon, Egypt, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal, Tanzania, Uganda and the United States.
The event also witnessed art exhibition, workshop, networking and master classes. It continued the following day with many aspiring filmmakers and stars taking advantage of the event to sharpen their crafts. There was also an Art exhibition which spiced up the event and helped to discover some of the untapped artistes at the grassroots who are begging for a space to showcase what stuff they are made of.
Film industry veterans like Francis Duru, Andy Boyo, among others took turns to train the participants on script writing, editing and directing. The festival climaxed with an awards nights which left many memories in the minds of those who graced the occasion. The night was stolen by the beauty queens in the state who graced the event.
At the end of the show, participants walked home with trophies for their contributions to the film industry across Africa. Andy Boyo walked home with the Best Director Award for his film, ‘Secrets of the Gods’, while Cameroonian, Kang Quintus won the Best Actor Award for his role in the film, ‘Fisherman’s Diary’.
Others that won awards on the night were Naboth from Uganda (Best Documentary Short), Firka Chanya from Tanzania (Best Narrative Short) and Oyentakuko from Nigeria (Best Original Sound track). Best Documentary Future went to Senegal while Cameroon and Nigeria took home the award for Best costume and Best Screen play respectively.
Speaking after the show, Eke who is also the founder of the annual The African Film Festival (TAFF), in Dallas Texas, the United States of America expressed satisfaction with the outcome of the festival. He described the festival as a great success, saying it came with great challenges, but everyday for three days, we had a great turn out of the young people, participating in art, exhibition and in film screening.
According to the founder, Villafest seeks to celebrate Africa’s culture and vibrancy through indigenous arts and films for the preservation of the people’s culture.