The online distribution platform Africafilms.tv has cemented its collaboration with the African Film Festival of Cordoba-FCAT, offering five titles online, starting today, the 18th of October.

The professional forum at the African Film Festival of Cordoba-FCAT, known as FCAT Espacio Profesional, has given voice today to emerging filmmakers of projects aimed at online distribution. The round table, titled ‘An outlook on the audiovisual sector in Africa’, started with a look at the history of African film festivals, the relation between festivals and the digital world, and the capacity of the festivals in building audiences and allowing the existence and distribution of African films. 

This panelists included Enrico Chiesa, director of Africanfilms.tv, who has been contributing to the festival since 2011. Chiesa explained that they have just launched an initiative consisting of providing audiences with a series of films taken from the FCAT film archive. This initiative, that will start on the 18th of October, dovetailing with the festival’s closing and awards ceremony, will allow audiences to stream and watch these films in their own computers. 

‘African film must enjoy the great advantages of the new ITCs in order to meet the enormous audience’, Enrico Chiesa stated. 

The VoD (Video on Demand) site is funded by the ACP States and the European Union, aimed at promoting African film and the cooperation among professionals in Africa, Spain and beyond. The project, based in Dakar, is also available in Mali and France. 

During his speech, the director of Africafilms.tv highlighted the importance of reinventing smart cinema to prompt a popular cinema.

The starting four selected films that will be part of this initiative are Ezra, by Nigerian filmmaker Newton I. Aduaka; the German-Kenyan co-production Soul Boy, by Hawa Essuman; Surfing Soweto, by Sara Blecher; Il va pleuvoir sur Conakry, by Cheik Fantamady Camara, screened at the festival.

It’s worth noting that Africafilms.tv is not the only online distributor of African cinemas. 

The round table also counted on Russell Southwood of Smart Monkey Tv , a Youtube channel linked to Balancing Act, an online site devoted to information and communication of African issues and cultures. Southwood shared Chiesa’s point on the necessity of enjoying new technologies and tools, such as the smartphone, which has become the “medium of choice in Africa”.

FCAT Espacio Profesional concludes today with the production and co-production forum in Africa and Spain. The festival will celebrate its closing and awards ceremony this evening.

To watch the starting 4 films, visit Africanfilms.tv: http://www.africafilms.tv/fr/films-gratuits.