2006-02-13Staff Report 2 By Irmgardt Schreiber This year's Wild Cinema Windhoek International Film Festival (WCFF) is the fifth international film festival in Windhoek and will be held from May 12 to 21 at five different venues in the capital. In total there will be about 40 screenings of the best of world cinematography as well as some of Namibia's best productions for 2005. In order to accommodate more viewers Wild Cinema is making use of the Warehouse Theatre as main venue for 2006, but screenings will be held at the FNCC and the Goethe Centre as in the past. Club Thriller is the additional venue in Katutura, while viewers can once again look forward to open-air screenings at Zoo Park Amphitheatre. Again the festival organisers are making preference on films by Namibian producers or films with Namibian content. Subsequently the deadline for entries for local filmmakers was extended till January 31. In total a dozen local productions including short features, documentaries, music videos and commercials were entered for this year's festival. Currently the WCFF committee is selecting the best entries to be showcased at the 2006 festival. WCFF is inviting several of the directors and producers, as well as some of the actors to attend the screenings at the festival. As in 2005 the organising committee is planning to hold workshops to help develop the Namibian film industry. WCFF is happy to announce the close cooperation of One Africa TV as a new partner, promoting the festival throughout. Also Radio Energy, Wild Cinema's other advertising partner, have expressed their satisfaction over last year's successful teamwork and have strengthened their commitment as promoters of the festival for 2006 again. The Wild Cinema Film Festival Trust welcomes aboard three new members: Waldheim Shiluwa, Aino Moongo and Volker RÃÆ'Æ'Æ'ÃÆ''šÃ‚¶der. While Michaela Bauer, main coordinator of last year's festival, stepped down due to professional obligations, Irmgard Schreiber, active member of the previous two festivals, has taken on the task of main coordinator. The WCFF board of trustees stays committed to the capacity building element of the festival and is accommodating, with the aid of the American Cultural Centre, Oshosheni Hiveluah and Josephina Shikongo, as trainees of the organising committee. With all due consideration organisers of the festival decided to charge a nominal entry fee at some of the venues of no more than N$10, in an attempt to make the festival partly self-sustainable. Students will, however, be able to obtain tickets at a reduced rate while WCFF's advertising partners will hold ticket give-away competitions. As in the past the film festival is sponsored by the Franco-Namibian Cultural Centre (FNCC), Goethe Centre/NaDS, Embassy of the Kingdom of Spain, European Commission, Swedish Embassy, Embassy of Finland and the Embassy of the Royal Netherlands. Furthermore the American Cultural Centre, the Embassies of Brazil, Indonesia and China, as well as the Warehouse Theatre and Club Thriller are welcomed by the organisers as new sponsors and partners at this year's festival. 2006-02-13Staff Report 2
