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Press Release 2012.02.09


Thursday 09 February 2012 at the Goethe Institute (6 Kilo) this African Focused International Film Festival was announced to Launch in Addis Ababa.
Addis Ababa is going to host an international film festival that aims at promoting African cinema.

In recognition of the power of cinema as a major tool to promote contemporary African culture and the comparably small share Africa features in the global film festival platforms, the Blue Nile Film and Television Academy and the Ethiopian Film Makers Association are joining hands to launch the “Colours of the Nile International Film Festival (CNIFF)” in Addis Ababa.


“The primary objective of the CNIFF is to promote African Cinema and the African film market” says Abraham Haile Biru, president of the festival and director of the Blue Nile Film and Television Academy. Adding “CNIFF will work towards nurturing young African film talents through experience exchanges, workshops as well as exposure to world cinematic culture”

CNIFF will take place every two years starting October 2012.
Opening on 24 October the festival runs for five consecutive days. The line-up of CNIFF include:-

- Screenings and competition of African long feature films, documentary films and short films.
- Africa Special:- screening of selection of films from the rich tradition of Africa.
- World Cinema Corner: - screening of selection of outstanding contemporary films from other continents.
- Maser Class (Workshops) for filmmakers and other film professionals on various topics.
- The CNIFF Forum: a platform for African filmmakers to discuss their common agenda towards addressing their
challenges and improving the framework conditions surrounding the African film industry.
- The Film Lounge: a market place for African filmmakers and a room for discussion between established African
filmmakers and emerging talents.

The CNIFF will award the “Great Nile Award” for the best African feature film. A Number of other prizes will be awarded for the various categories of the competition.

“The institutional base of the festival is important for its continuation” says Haimanot Alemu, Chairman of the Ethiopian Filmmakers Association. “Blue Nile Film and Television Academy as a pioneering East African film training institute and the Ethiopian Filmmakers Association as an independent institution of Ethiopian filmmakers with a primary objective of promoting Ethiopian cinema provide a well-founded institutional home for CNIFF that insures its credibility and sustainability”.

“Our vision is to establish CNIFF as a prestigious film festival of the African continent with global recognition” says Abraham Haile. And he adds “we call up on the support of friends of art and cinema to accomplish this vision”.

 

Press release photo
Abraham Haile Biru, President of CNIFF and Haimanot Alemu, Chairman of the Ethiopian Filmmakers
Association gave a press conference on the launching of CNIFF.