The Kenya Film Classification Board (KFCB) will support the 2016 edition of the Broadcast, Film and Music Africa Conference, #BFMA8.
The meeting opens this week from Nov 23-24 at the Kenya National Theatre in Nairobi.
Billed as Africa’s largest annual gathering of creative professionals and digital media industry, the conference is expected to champion the development of the Kenya and East Africa’s content industry, particularly in the post-digital migration period.
KFCB Chief Executive Officer EzekielMutua said the meeting comes at a time when the Board is focusing on promoting the production of more local content to create a positive impact on the local content industry. He said KFCB remains supportive of all initiatives that will promote the growth of the industry.
AITEC Africa CEO Sangeeta Patel said over 20 societies including associations for artists, broadcasters, filmmakers, advertising and scriptwriters, performers, music producers and copyright protection bodies are among over 60 organisations that have confirmed participation in the 2016 Broadcast, Film and Music Africa (BFMA8) conference.
The forum is expected to discuss issues affecting the industry and explore ways of overcoming the challenges coming at a time when the Board has initiated the process of reviewing the Film and Stage Plays Act, cap222. Experts from Kenya and 31 other countries are expected to participate.
Sangeeta said: “The confirmation of Kenya Film Classification Board and such a large number of associations and professionals from the arts and creative industry highlights the importance that players are attaching to benchmarking, dialogue and stocktaking through positive engagements.”
Kenya Film Classification Board’s mandate is to regulate the creation, broadcasting, possession, distribution and exhibitions of films in the country with a view to promoting national values and morality and development of the industry.
The usually star-studded conference has chosen Kenya National Theatre as the venue of the meeting to retain a tradition of town hall discussions and TED- like programme structure befitting cross-industry networking. BFMA8 also retains the staging of new films, engagement of content creators with broadcasters and a stage for interaction between broadcast engineers with technology, equipment merchants and developers.
AITEC Africa Chairman Sean Moroney said the nascent gaming and animation would make it as a focus in the event and confirmed that the show would also retain the rock music festival stage ROFFEKE which facilitates screenings and commentaries on local and international rock ‘n roll films and music videos.
“We will also be giving filmmakers, artists and original games developers a launch pad to premiere their content to international delegates, venture capitalists and broadcasters,” said Moroney.