Peace Anyiam-Osigwe’s Africa Film Academy partners with Lagos to empower young filmmakers

The Africa Film Academy (AFA) and the Lagos State Ministry for Tourism, Arts & Culture under the Lagos State Creative Industry (LACI) initiative have partnered to launch the second edition of Film in a Box Lagos. The initiative will provide free training for youths in Epe, Badagry, Ikeja, Ikorodu, and Lagos Island.

Building on the success of the first edition, AFA and LASG seeks to empower young filmmakers by providing training and mentorship to foster the growth of the creative industry in Lagos. The first edition trained 890 young Lagosians, and many of them have since been integrated into mainstream Nollywood.

Habib Sheidu, a Training & Strategy Associate with the AFA, describes Film in a Box as “a capacity-building framework that equips individuals with the requisite skill sets in the Creative Industry space, thus enabling the individual to be economically empowered.”

The training will cover Acting, Directing, Production, Set Design, Costume Design, Props Management, Film and TV Makeup, Scriptwriting, Editing, Cinematography, and Sound Production. 

Dr Ekpenyong Bassey-Inyang, a veteran Nollywood Actor and Director of Studies at the AFA, emphasized the importance of training programs like Film in a Box in the growth and advancement of the industry. 

In his words, “We saw drastic positive behavioural improvements in our students during the last edition, so it also helps in building young leaders.”

The Project Manager of Film in a Box expressed gratitude for the commitment of the AFA leadership and the Lagos State Government to continue this project, even with the passing of their founder, Ms. Peace Anyiam-Osigwe,MFR.

The AFA was founded by Peace Anyiam-Osigwe,MFR. Its an organization focused on training, mentoring, and promoting African film and cinema. Since its inception in 2005, the AFA has provided various programs aimed at empowering African filmmakers and creating opportunities for them to showcase their work to a global audience.