Paheja Siririka

WINDHOEK - The Namibian Film Commission has begun its week of screening locally produced films and terming it the Namibia Film Week from September 21-28, 2019 at the Katutura Community Arts Centre (KCAC). All films submitted and accepted to the Namibia Theatre and Film Awards will be screened during this week.

The screening is for the promotion of movies nominated for the Namibia Theatre and Film Awards scheduled to take place early next month. Marinda Stein, The Project Manager of the Namibian Theatre and Film Awards (NTFA 2019) said week one was a successful operation with the screening of the films. 
“It was a beautiful audience, the films were well received because of the mixture and diversity, there was a love story, one man’s relationship with a son, emotional blackmail in a relationship as well as two friends who set up another friend on a blind date. That makes a brilliant dose of Namibian entertainment on-screen,” recalled Stein.

Stein said overall, they received 61 submissions for the awards and unfortunately, only five did not qualify. “56 Namibian films are currently being screened around town on different days. We saw this as an important step to bring the films closer to the people so that they can see what Namibians are capable of in terms of film making, ” said Stein.

She said they received five feature films submitted for this year’s awards including Hairareb and The White Line which are by far the longest. “Hairareb is by far our longest local feature film which is about 1h57 long and our shortest is slightly under three minutes. 

Documentaries are also forming part of the list,” said Stein.
One element one cannot take away from the year’s nominations is the diversity and usage of local languages. Hairareb is one of the films that explore the language aspect, include  Kukuri and The White Line that plays around with Otjiherero, Afrikaans.
The NTFA 2019 is slated for October 5, 2019, at the National Theatre of Namibia. “It is a red carpet black-tie event,” said Stein.

The Namibia Film Commission (NFC) sensitised the public on the recent monumental achievements in the Namibia film industry. “Namibian films are not only screening at local exhibitors, but filling the cinemas and emerging as competition to international films, in the local market,” said Florence Haifene, NFC Head.

“The NFC is delighted to see packed cinemas for Namibian films. We are proud to have been an intricate part in developing the local film industry and encourage Namibians to participate in this growing screen culture,” concluded Haifene.