After dropping the mic last year, retired Afrikaans rapper Wambuseun opened the Namibia Film School (NFS) in Windhoek earlier this year.
Fifty students are currently enrolled at the Windhoek branch, situated along Faraday Street in the Southern Industrial Area.
Wambuseun, real name Lownan Nangombe, is about to open another film school, which also teaches radio production, in Ongwediva soon.
He told VIBEZ! that they have not officially announced the 2022 enrolments yet, but demands have been high in Windhoek and the north.
“We had put plans into place for students who previously wanted to enrol but could not do so because of various factors. Because we are a community empowerment institution, we have set up programmes and plans for some of these students, and gave them a chance to be first in line,” said Nangombe.
The curriculum at the NFS provides aspiring filmmakers to gain experience in every facet of a movie set, with students working in roles such as gaffers, directors of photography, and assistant camerapersons to shape well-rounded and skilled filmmakers. “Our students are divided into part-time and full-time groups, because we are not a high school or a primary school. We do not apply the group division system, but instead adhere to the Covid-19 regulations as per the country’s laws,” he pointed out. Students focusing on radio production are taught everything that constitutes radio – a radio station in itself, what goes into running a radio station, how to start your own radio station, presenting on air, etc. “The idea is to create self-sustainable students who strive for learn-do-create footprints of their own someday, and we are happy to be part of the foundation building process”. Nangombe added that the NFS’s dream is bigger than just creating an environment for people to thrive at what they love.
“It is to teach these same people to be able to create and master the craft of their choice within their means in their settings and capacities. We intend to make art a necessity. If there is anything we have learned from the pandemic, it is that ‘the silence of the world was loud, but arts make it softer to bear with’”.
Enrolment will start at the end of June or July, and depends on space availability.
-slunyangwe@nepc.com.na