By Frederick Philander
WINDHOEK
The Wild Cinema Film Festival Trust sees the establishing of an independent platform as its primary function for both high quality international world cinema as well as for Namibian film productions.
So said the director of the film festival, Imgardt Schreiber, at the opening of the 6th film festival. Many invited guests attended the gala opening of the event.
“Ours is a developmental function, and our work is rewarded by Namibian filmmakers submitting their latest productions for the festival. And so every year we try to add another feature to the festival in an incremental, phased approach,” Schreiber said.
Last year saw the introduction of the first Wild Cinema Audience Choice Award for the Best Namibian production of the 2006 festival.
“So, for the first time Namibian films were in competition with each other.
This year, thanks to the invaluable input by both the Filmmakers Association of Namibia as well as the Film Commission Secretariat of Namibia, we added the first juror awarded Best Namibian Picture plus a host of merit awards and special mentions,” she said of the accolades that will be awarded next Wednesday.
The award ceremony will be televised by One Africa TV.
“The employment creation and growth potential through the film industry, not to mention the financial kick-backs in all fields of the economy, are immense, and it is through partnerships like these that we see a very positive development towards nurturing our industry. In time, the backing of Namibia’s public institutions will elevate the Wild Cinema Windhoek International Film Festival to national level, generating private sector interest in our albeit small but proportionally prolific industry,” she said.
According to Schreiber, Namibia has witnessed more and more international, big-budget studios coming to the country recognizing its well-developed infrastructure.
“Namibian Filmmaking is perched on the threshold to develop into a fully-fledged industry. It is an industry with an as yet untapped investment potential, where every Dollar invested today can reap tenfold returns in a turn-around time of only 5 years,” she asserted.