ROFFEKE at BFMA 2016, 24th November.

Review by Josephine Koima: Intern

Broadcast Film and Music Africa is a business and technology event that serves the creative content and electronic media industry through a marketing platform. They have held such events annually for 7 years to bring together stakeholders in these three industries to empower them with knowledge that will strengthen Africa’s electronic media future. This year’s BFMA was held at the Kenya National Theatre and targeted TV broadcasters, Radio Broadcasters, Film and Music Production companies, Animators, Pay TV companies Advertising and Marketing agencies and many more.

Roffeke was invited and in conjunction with Kenya Scriptwriters Guild, they showcased the progress in the Film industry by their various representatives.In particular, Roffeke’s screenings focused on short films and music videos whose themes centred on particular Sustainable Development Goals. These goals were adopted on September 25th 2015 by a set of countries that desire to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all by the year 2030.

Films scheduled for screening were as follows,

SDG 1: No Poverty

1. Blurred Memories. A Canadian film directed by Joffrey Saintrapt.*
2. October Horse, Directed by Pedro Santasmarinas from Portugal.
3. An animated film for the music ‘Fairytale’ by El Sobrino del Diablo, from Spain, directed by Josep Calle Buendia..

SDG 2: Zero Hunger
1. Meat is Murder, directed by Elodie Despres and Stephane Elmadjian, is a film featuring a rock musician James D. Lee..*
2. The World is Dancing- Directed by Stefano Bertelli from Italy.*

SDG 3: Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages
1. Grandpa – Directed by Medhat Maged.*

SDG 5: Gender equality
1. An Angel’s Tale by Sara Boix Grau
2. Superfama by Olga Osorio
3. Rock is not an Attitude by Xiaoxiao Tang

(*Due to time constraints, we were unable to screen some of the films)

Apart from these screenings, the session involved a brief introduction to screenwriting, undertaken by both Jackline Emali, a representative from Kenya Scriptwriters’ Guild and Roffeke founder, Mildred Achoch. The discussion centered around the basics of scriptwriting, , the dyanamics of a good story , how to mould characters, types of conflict and the structure of a professional script.

It was encouraging to see the huge turnout of young people interested in film, and hopefully, their enthusiasm will continue building the Industry.