2016-03-02Staff Report 2 " Windhoek A group of aspiring filmmaker’s received a free filmmaking and film-editing workshop last week from the world's youngest filmmaker, Zuriel Oduwole.The workshop forms part of her mission to empower the independence and economic viability of her generation after listening to their views and challenges over the social media. During her two day trip in the country, Oduwole presented her annual DUSUSU Award to the First Lady, Monica Geingos, at State House last Tuesday and on Wednesday conducted her first film making workshop at the Hilton Hotel in Windhoek. Oduwole says she is passionate about educational initiatives such as the film workshop because she believes education is more than Science, Physics, Economics, and Geography in the classroom, but simply a vehicle to equip one for their future survival in a society. “There is so much that one can do to upgrade their skills. I started doing documentaries because on the side people often capture Africa on the negative side but they don’t often show the positive side. I leave in Africa and it’s not how they show it and therefor showing the positive side of everything is important. I want them to learn how to shoot their own documentaries and tell their own stories,” she says. Targeting youths who are out of formal school, but in need of a new set of skills to ensure they are productive in the future, 25 participants were selected from more than 255 who applied to be part of the programme. Applicants were selected from those who contacted her on Facebook and those who responded to an invitation in the newspapers to apply. At the workshop Oduwole showed some of her documentaries and shared her journey and experience with the young eager filmmakers present. The highlight of the event was a sneak preview of her new film still in production, which she shot across five countries, Brazil, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Mauritius and the United States of America (USA). It is due for release at the end of this year. The event also involved basic film editing skills, for which volunteers assisted her editing recent footage she had just made. ""You are not just an inspiration, you are a leader, and I would call you ""Your Excellency"", said Gloria Shaningwa from Windhoek, who follows Oduwole on Facebook and Twitter and has seen all her updates. Another participant, Beauty Tsuses, who wants to be a model simply exclaimed ""Wow"", after seeing all her works on screen. The youngest invitee was a 12 year old girl - Jacinta Kasume, who said she already read about Oduwole on her last visit in December and just wanted to meet her and thank her for all she is doing for girls in Africa. Having spoken to more than 24,355 children in 11 countries about education, Oduwole now has more than 2000 new Facebook followers from Namibia alone since last December, and after this workshop, more are bound to follow, as they receive updates on her various global activities, and via her blog site http://www.zaaiblog.com/ “I would like to encourage Namibian youth to never give up on their dreams and always believe in their dreams. They must look at failure as success,” said the 13- year-old adding that this will not be her last time in Namibia as she will be coming back to visit schools in Namibia on an educational campaign aiming to inform and educate children on the importance of education and school. Oduwole is an accomplished Pan African girl who started her own project; The Dream Up, Speak Up, Stand Up project at the age of 10. Today she has spoken to eight incumbent African presidents; spoken to more than 24 000 children across 11 countries, and in total met with 17 presidents and prime ministers. Beyond her passion for girl's education she is also an award winning documentary film maker, as well as the world's youngest person to show her self-produced film in a commercial cinema chain. Her last movie titled ""A promising Africa"", released in November 2014, has now screened in five countries across three continents. Last year, ELLE Magazine named her one of 33 Women Who Changed the World, in 2015, and New Africa Magazine named her one of Africa's 100 most influential. ? " 2016-03-02Staff Report 2
