FACILITATORS from the United States and Nigeria will be the resource persons at the 2019 i-Represent International Documentary Film Festival (IREP) with the theme ‘Storylines’ holding from March 21 to 24 in Lagos.

Bibliographer of Africana in the Melville J. Herskovits Library of African Studies, Northwestern University, Esmeralda Kale; film scholar and author, Professor Awam Amkpa, and Professor of Theatre and Media Studies at the University of Missouri, Saint Louis, Niyi Coker will facilitate the 9th IREP happening at Freedom Park, Lagos Island, and Nigerian Film Corporation, Ikoyi.

The others are renowned architect, Theo Lawson, who will give a keynote on ‘Urban Art Spaces and Stories’ and later speak on ‘Globalizing the African story through music’; Assistant Professor, Illinois State University, Paul Ugor and documentary filmmaker and academic, Professor Linus Abraham who has taught at the Greenlee School of Communication, Iowa State University.

The producer of the documentaries, ‘Barbara’s Dollhouse’ about the collection of historical black-dolls in the US and ‘The Forgotten Sports Heroes’ reflecting on the plight of some of Ghana’s past sports heroes neglected in the waning years of their existence, will moderate a panel on ‘Narrative structures of African non-fiction and cultural aesthetics’ at the festival.

Apart from the panel discussions, the resource persons will feature in; there will also be the traditional film screenings, producers’ roundtable, training and cocktail amongst others at the four-day festival.

Over 30 carefully selected international films will be screened during the four-day festival in conjunction with co-curators, African World Documentary Film Festival (AWDFF), AGDOK, and German Documentaries.

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The iREP Producers’ Roundtable known for insightful discussions that are solution-driven and engage producers in a pro-active prognosis into the opportunities that can improve the impact of the documentary film genre will happen as well as presentations that will see thought leaders in filmmaking and media scholarship in conversation in filmmakers.

Young and upcoming filmmakers will also be taught basic filmmaking and understanding of the documentary film art at the festival while the IREP cocktail will afford an opportunity for networking apart from being the welcome reception for international guests.

Explaining the choice of the theme, Executive Producer/Co-Founder of IREP, Femi Odugbemi explained that ‘Storylines’ arose from “current realities about imagery and perspectives. Technology is continuously redefining the impact of human experiences and challenging us to tell our story as a means of engaging the world with our identity, individuality and personal experiences. Every human being is a story, and we are always in pursuit of tools to advance and promote alternative facts about ourselves; and how we wish to be seen. The contention between what is real and what is preferred is shaping the currency of human exchange.

“The ability to construct and reconstruct stories by anyone with a social media account is challenging the traditional story form. How would people own their stories without compromising the truth? How would documentary films respond to this reality?”

Arts advocate and journalist, JahmanAnikulapo; filmmaker Makin Soyinka; Theo Lawson and Odugbemi are the co-founders of the festival initiated nine years ago to promote independent documentary filmmaking in Nigeria and Africa.

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