… As festival begins this weekend​

Supporting Africa International Film Festival, AFRIFF’s developmental initiative for young African filmmakers, Canon Central and North Africa (CCNA) is partnering the former for this year’s edition of the festival, which begins this Sunday, November 13.

As part of the week-long event whose activities are spread across the Filmhouse-IMAX, Genesis Cinema and Silverbird Cinema, Victoria Island and AfriNolly Space, Oregun, Lagos, CCNA is offering further support skills and capacity development among creative and talented youth and professionals in Nigeria on film and photography.

“We aim to familiarise Nigerian filmmakers and photographers, and the attendees to the festival with cutting-edge professional technology that is used internationally,” said Katie Simmonds, Canon’s Strategic Operations Professional – Emerging Markets Africa/Sustainability Projects.

She said Canon is always committed to launching new innovative programmes that help provide the knowledge and skills needed to promote creative talent and drive the growth of a vibrant local industry.

“Our partnership with AFRIFF, Nigeria, underlines our focus on supporting the nation in building the next generation of talent who will drive the growth of the country’s television, film and photography sectors. It will empower youth, build their skills, and help facilitate rewarding careers in the industry.”

So far, about 50 would-be trainees, made up of film students, practitioners and the media have registered for the cinematography class.

Simmonds said the Canon sessions will provide the perfect opportunity for aspiring filmmakers to benefit from short courses and seminars in videography and filmmaking.

The collaboration marks an extension of Canon’s sustainability for its Miraisha programme.

Simmonds explains that, “Miraisha is a combination of the Japanese word ‘Mirai’, which means Future and the Swahili word ‘Maisha’, which means Livelihood. The programme’s goal is to provide people with the skills to develop livelihoods in professional photography and filmmaking, or print by utilising Canon’s core expertise in imaging and its network of professionals.”

The initiatives range from fashion and street photography classes to filmmaking workshops and print training for SMEs.

During this collaboration, Canon will be conducting a filmmaking workshop and a filmmaking seminar led by an expert in the field and look forward to rolling out more activities in near future.

Simmonds disclosed that the association has been inspired by ‘Kyosei’, Canon’s corporate philosophy which embodies the ideal of living and working together for the common good.

She said: “AFRIFF is a noted film festival that presents a complete immersion into the world of film making with participation from local and international industry bodies, which over the years has fostered film and television education. Canon is proud to partner with such an organisation and would like to thank the management for their continued support as we move forward, we will continue to build on the positive relationships that we share and take it to the next level through our new solutions.”

CCNA is a division within Canon Middle East FZ LLC (CME), a subsidiary of Canon Europe. The formation of CCNA within CME in 2015 is a strategic step that aims to enhance Canon’s business within the Africa region – by strengthening Canon’s in-country presence and focus. CCNA also demonstrates Canon’s commitment to operate closer to its customers and meeting their demands in the rapidly evolving African market. Canon has been represented in the Africa continent for more than 15 years through distributors and partners that have successfully built a solid customer base in the region.