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| Lola Kenya Children's Screen |
Lola Kenya Screen(aka Lola Kenya Children's Screen) is an audio-visual media platform (annual film festival, learn-as-you-do mentorship programme that also incorporates a film production workshop, and a market) for children and youth in eastern Africa.[1][2].
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Established in October 2005 by arts and culture journalist and creative writer Ogova Ondego as reported in Cinema Without Borders[1], Lola Kenya Screen derives its name from the widely spoken African Bantu language group which means to 'watch, view or see films'.[3] Among the main objectives of Lola Kenya Screen are to explore, identify and nurture creative talent among children and youth through hands-on skill-development programmes in areas such as journalism, film-making, arts appraisal and appreciation, and organisation and presentation of cultural and creative events.[1][4]
Lola Kenya Screen holds its annual film festival every first full week of August since the inaugural edition ran in Nairobi August 7–12, 2006. The subsequent editions were held August 6–11, 2007; August 11–16, 2008; August 10–15, 2009; August 9-14, 2010 and August 8-13, 2011. The 7th Lola Kenya Screen Film Festival is scheduled for August 6-11,2012. Since 2008, Lola Kenya also hosts the Kids For Kids Festival-Africa (KFKF-A) competition for films made by children for children across Africa.[5] The 7th Lola Kenya Screen will thus feature the 5th KFKF-A (http://www.kidsforkidsfestival.org/en/index.htm) in Nairobi.
The film festival focuses on films by children and youth, films by students for children and youth, films by amateurs for children and youth, films by professionals for children and youth, and films with children and youth.[6] During Lola Kenya Screen film festival, children (6-13-year-olds) and youth (14-25-year-olds) serve on the film selection committee, programme preparation and presentation (MC), film jury, festival press (creative journalism), and in the practical film-making workshop that produces at least five short films for children and youth.[1][2][4]. The festival exhibits the best possible international films for children, youth and family.[7]
In 2006, during the inaugural event, participants made nine short films that went on to win the Grand Prize at 5th World Summit on Media for Children/1st Kids For Kids Festival-Africa Competition in Johannesburg, South Africa in 2007 as reported by US film industry publication, Variety. [8] In 2007 and 2008, 14 films and three songs were made by children and youth that were not only showcased all over the world but won several accolades and awards: 2nd Kids For Kids Africa Competition grand prize in 2008; Special Jury Prize at 17th Jugend Medien Festival Berlin 2008; Represented Africa at the global Kids For Kids Festival Competition in 2008; Nominated for Best Animation at the 5th Africa Movie Academy Awards in 2009; Nominated for Best Short Documentary at the 5th Africa Movie Academy Awards in 2009. [9][4] These films are still on the festival circuit around the world [1][6]
A movement that uses appropriate and available technologies to deliver audiovisual media content that complements, enhances, entertains and promotes learning among children and youth in the promotion of literacy, gender equity, independent thought, human rights, environmental responsibility and global health[1], Lola Kenya Screen has between August 2006 and August 2009 trained 154 children and youth from Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Zanzibar, Tanzania and Zimbabwe in filmmaking, cultural journalism, Programme Planning and Presentation, Film Judging, TV Drama for children and youth, and 6 adults in making documentaries for children and youth[4]. Through the mentorship programme, Lola Kenya has since 2006 produced more than 30 films, including several that that have won awards and accolades on the international film circuit.[4] In 2011, Happy Times by Elaine Nesbitt and Manani Ogres by Samuel Musembi, Joseph Hongo, Marcus Kang’ethe and Norrick Mwangi were selected to take part in the sixth Busan International Kids’ Film Festival in South Korea.[4]
Lola Kenya Screen 2008 attracted participation from Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe, with all participants coming in to watch the wide variety of films from 56 nations and to be equipped with skills for making films, appreciating and judging audiovisual media production, presenting programmes and filing daily reports on the festival.
Lola Kenya Screen has between 2006 and 2011 showcased more than 1950 films from 102 countries representing all the continents in various genres, formats and lengths in Kenya.[4]
Lola Kenya Screen, a Nairobi-based charity [6], is a member of the International Centre of Cinema for Children and Young People (CIFEJ)—an organisation founded in 1955 under the auspices of UNESCO and UNICEF to promote excellence in cinema for children and youth, and of the Kids For Kids Festival (KFKF) community of filmmakers and educators that promotes audiovisual media content created by children for children.[4] Lola Kenya Screen has at various times worked with local and international partners in delivering its services. They include Goethe-Institut in Kenya, Danish Film Institute of Denmark, Prix Jeunesse of Germany, Africalia of Belgium, Jan Vrijman Fund/IDFA of The Netherlands, UNESCO, Prince Claus Fund for Culture and Development of the Netherlands, and ComMattersKenya and ArtMatters.Info of Kenya. The partnership with UNESCO enabled Lola Kenya Screen to host the first film summit or audiovisual media content producers that gave birth to the Nairobi Declaration and IPO-Eastern Africa network of audiovisual media and Television producers in the Great Lakes and Horn of Africa region.[5] The collaboration with Africalia on the other hand, produced a network of film festivals in Africa that take African cinema/films to Africans. This arrangement, called Cinetoile and funded by the European Commission and the Belgian Development Cooperation in 2010,helped strengthen Lola Kenya Screen's school and neighbourhood film screening outreach programme.