The 9th edition of the annual Slum Film Festival (SFF) is set to start in Nairobi next week.
The week long film extravaganza will be taking place at the Nairobi Film Center (formerly Nairobi Cinema) from the 23rd to 30th August, 2019.
Themed ‘Tell Your Own Story’, over 100 films from over 60 countries will be screened and showcased.
Apart from the Nairobi Film Center, the screening will also be taking place in Nairobi’s Kibera and Mathare constituencies.
The festival that was started in 2011 seeks to showcase film talents in slums and marginalized areas.
It also strives to tap the unearthed talents among the youth and provide them with an avenue to exploit opportunities in the Creative Arts industry.
The festival further aims at connecting and exposing local filmmakers to the international Creative Arts market.
During the festival, winners will be awarded in the following categories; best Kenya film, best Africa film, best international film, slum voice award, best animation, best documentary, best short film, best feature film, best cinematography, best children’s film, emerging award among others.
Kenya Film Classification Board (KFCB) will be partnering with SFF during the event as part of its strategy to create a facilitative environment for the youth to nurture and showcase their talents.
To tap youths talents, KFCB is spearheading ‘Sinema Mashinani’ roll-out that seeks to promote film production at the grass-root levels with aim to showcase Kenya’s rich cultural heritage.
Sinema Mashinani that is anchored on the Manufacturing Pillar of the Presidential Big Four development agenda also seeks to develop infrastructure for talent nurturing centers across the country with the view of creating employment opportunities for the youth.
KFCB is cognizant to the fact that Kenya is a hot-bed of talent that can be translated into films for job and wealth creation.
On Monday during the International Youth Day (IYD) celebrations in Kwale County, the Government urged the youth to utilize their talents for socio-economic empowerment.
The Government cited the Ajira Digital Programme and Studio Mashinani as some of the projects it is rolling out to promote talents and create job opportunities for the youth.