By Kemo Cham
The 2019 edition of the European Film Festival in Sierra Leone premiered on Friday at the British Council with the screening of a British made movie about a child-led family.
The movie, Jellyfish, which stars British actress Liv Hill as Sarah Taylor, explores the issues surrounding child abuse and the effect children and their upbringing.
Jellyfish is one of 16 films lined up for the eight-day long festival being held on the theme: ‘The rights of the child.’
The organizers - the European Union Delegation to Sierra Leone and its local partners - say the theme is in commemoration of the 30th anniversary of the UN Convention on the rights of the Child.
They hope the festival will serve as a channel to raise awareness on issues and commitments around the rights of the child in Sierra Leone and the world at large.
All 16 movies, eight locally made and eight foreign (European) made, speak to the theme, said Tom Vens, EU Ambassador to Sierra Leone.
“We are organizing the festival in Sierra Leone because we want to celebrate culture, because we want to celebrate diversity,” said Mr Vens, at the opening cocktail of the festival hosted at the British Council, shortly before Jellyfish was screened.
He said the festival offered opportunity for Sierra Leonean filmmakers to celebrate Sierra Leone movies.
Besides Freetown, the films will be screened in Bo, Kenema and Makeni.
In Freetown, screenings are scheduled for locations at Kroo Bay, Model Secondary School, and the British Council.
“We are going to schools, we are going to universities, so that everybody will have an opportunity to see them,” Vens added.
Jellyfish creator and co-producer, James Gardner, flew into the country for the festival and he was at the British Council on Friday to give a short talk on the movie.
Gardner said Jellyfish illustrated that issues of child-led families and child abuse weren’t isolated to developing countries like Sierra Leone.
Due to the significance of the theme, the EU Delegation is organizing the festival in partnership with the UN children’s agency, UNICEF. Therefore, in the course of the eight-day period, artworks made by children from all over the country will be showcased on the theme: "The Sierra Leone that We want". These artworks will also be on display in the screening venues.
The European Film Festival is organized to promote firms made in the European Union to the rest of the world. EU representatives across the world organizes the event as part of the diplomatic missions.
The festival was hosted in Sierra Leone about three times in the past and was stopped due to low turnout, apparently as a result of lack of awareness in the local audience.
The 2019 edition is a re-launch and a local curator – the Freetown Media Center, also known as We Yone TV – was hired to boost local interest. Emmy nominated filmmaker Arthur Pratt is head of Freetown Media Center and has been at the forefront of the event.
Pratt’s blockbuster movie - Survivor - is one of the eight local films to be screened during the festival.
Survivor is a movie about the deadly Ebola epidemic that ravaged Sierra Leone and its West African neighbors Guinea and Liberia between 2014 and 2016.
Kid Miners, a movie about child labor in the mining sector, which was created by John Solo, is another notable Sierra Leonean movie to be screened at the festival.
Pratt told Politico that the festival is important in many ways, notably by providing exposure to talents in the local industry.
“I think that it is important for the recognition of the local film industry and it will also create a networking bridge between the local film makers and those from Europe,” Pratt said in an interview.
Another notable foreign movie on the menu is Lamb, a movie set in a community in Ethiopia and co-produced by an Ethiopian and a Ghanaian. It tells the story of a 9 year old boy left by his father with relatives in the mountains of Ethiopia and the boy’s struggle to overcome adversities.
Ama Ampadu, the Ghanaian co-producer of the film, also flew into Freetown for the festival.
Lamb was screened at Kroo Bay in Freetown on Saturday November 16, and it is scheduled for other screenings on Thursday 21 November at 6 pm at the British Council and on Friday 22 November at 10am at Model School.
Ampadu, Solo and Gardner are all scheduled to give a masterclass at the Limkokwing University of Creative Technology on the last day of the festival on 22 November.
The Masterclass is expected to be attended by stakeholders in the local film industry, including members of the Sierra Leone Producers Guild, Directors Guild, Actors Guild, Screen Writers Guild, Cinematographers Guild and students. All of whom will have the opportunity to ask the filmmakers questions relating to their work.
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