Finalists for Best Short Film Competition Announced

By Khalifa Hemed
Published September 14, 2017

Movies from six African countries have been shortlisted for competition in Scotland in October 2017.

The 12th annual Africa in Motion (AiM) Film Festival that shall run in Edinburgh and Glasgow from October 27 to November 5 says the short movies from Kenya, Ghana, Nigeria, Senegal, Morocco and Algeria shall be screened at Filmhouse in Edinburgh and University of Glasgow on October 30 and 31, respectively.

AiM, that says the annual African Short Film Competition is central to its ‘commitment to nurturing young African filmmaking talent’, says the shortlist for 2017 was selected from more than 350 entries.

Only moviemakers who have not previously made a feature-length film are eligible for the competition with a £500 cash prize awarded by the jury to the winner.

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The films selected for Competition are 12-minute CHEBET by Tony Koros of Kenya that revolves around a pregnant woman who takes drastic action when she finds her husband passed out in front of their house yet again; BLACK ROSE by Pascal Aka of Ghana that explores the inner thoughts and feelings of a restaurant manager seeking for a personal escape; and THE DARK BOX by Nigeria’s Yemi Jolaoso, an eight-minute work in which a man is all too eager to put his one-minute time machine to use in winning the heart of a woman until he discovers the unexpected consequences of his actions.

Algeria’s two entries in the competition are THE ANT QUEEN by Leila Artese and I PROMISE YOU by Mohamed Yargui. While the former is the tale of a 10-year-old girl who lives with her elder sister and her grandmother dream about turning into queen ant to have the freedom to choose her destiny, the latter tells the story of a man who, on the rocky paths leading to his home town, descends into silence unravelling feelings he has held onto since childhood.

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Also competing for the award is Senegal’s DEM DEM!The 25-minute work that is made in Wolof and French with English subtitles by Pape Bouname Lopy, Marc Recchia and Christophe Rolin. It is about a fisherman whose search for identity is questioned by a wise older man.

The seventh film in the competition lineup is OCCUPATION: KILLER by Walid Ayoub of Morocco that is crafted around a man who writes about a killer he has known since childhood in order to enter a prestigious journalism contest.

AiM or Scotland African Film Festival says its aim is to “bring the brilliance of African cinema to Scottish audiences, and at overcoming the under-representation and marginalisation of African films in British film-going culture.”

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The prize for the African Short Film Competition is sponsored by Scottish Documentary Institute.