‘Colors of the Nile’
Preparations are underway for the first edition of ”Colors of the Nile International Film Festival” (CNIFF), aimed at celebrating African filmmaking for the first time and to give African cinema a vibrant platform and worldwide visibility. Submissions for screening and competition opened in May 2012 for all categories with a deadline for entry set on 15 of August for feature length films and 25 of August for short films.
According to a press statement from the organizers, CNIFF is a biannual festival organized by the Blue Nile Film and Television Academy and the Ethiopian Filmmakers Association with the first edition taking place from 24 – 28 October 2012. The Blue Nile Film and Television Academy is a pioneering East African Film training institute based in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, while the Ethiopian Filmmakers Association is one of the first filmmakers’ alliances in the African continent.
“We are committed to constitute CNIFF as an internationally acclaimed world class film festival based in Africa’s political hub, Addis Ababa”, Abraham Haile Biru, Director of CNIFF, sais in the statement. “We are looking forward to submissions from renowned African filmmakers and emerging talents.”
Competitions are judged by an international jury consisting of African filmmakers and leading industry professionals. The competition categories for this year are feature length fiction films, short fiction films, feature length documentaries and short documentaries.
Out of the competition CNIFF will host screening of African masterpieces and outstanding films from other continents in its African Special and World Cinema Corner programs respectively.
The highest prize of the Festival is THE GREAT NILE AWARD given to the best director of a feature length film.
