The KinoNamibia Film Festival is returning for the third year this August. The festival gives amateur filmmakers and film enthusiasts the confidence to create stories with film and learn about the art of filmmaking.
KinoNamibia (which recently changed its name from KinoNamia) allows amateur and professional filmmakers to meet up at one place, connect and create a film within 48 hours.
Festival Coordinator, Andreas Elifas says he realised that most people want to get into filmmaking but find it difficult, thinking one needs expensive equipment to be a filmmaker. Elifas believes in the power of collaboration and adds that the KinoNamibia platform helps amateur filmmakers realise that with the right amount of creativity, one can simply shoot with a mobile phone.
Elifas is a creative with a demonstrated history of working in the Marketing, Advertising, Filming & Events Industry, skilled in Graphic Design, Photography and Filming. Namib Insider spoke to Elifas more on the creation of KinoNamibia and himself:
What motivates you and your team to do this festival?
The fact that we can get to express our creativity when we promote the festival. The interest in the festival is great and it keeps us going. We also like seeing how everyone at the festival engage with each other and work together to create great content within 48 hours. The films always come out great.
How do you think the festival has improved this year?
I can only really tell the improvement after the festival in August, as for now we are busy preparing for it, but what I can say, is that we will be accepting more participants this year, around 200. The fact that we have more support coming from sponsors also makes our work easier.
Do you see the festival expanding beyond Windhoek into other parts of Namibia?
We would love to roll out to regions, but we realise it is a big step considering all the logistics we need to take care of. We are a mere 3 years old, which I see is too soon to take up that challenge but in the near future, we definitely will.
Planning a film festival like this can be daunting, I imagine. Can you describe the physical and emotional duress of putting on a festival like this?
It’s very difficult and requires a lot of focusing and discipline- you have to look at everything from dealing with a team with different personalities and delegating them, to make sure that things run smoothly. If things don’t run accordingly, you will face trouble during the time of the festival. Simple things like not having access to the internet could ruin your plans as most of the marketing is done online, so you have to constantly be online and ready to respond to any queries that people ask online as soon as possible.
Is there any Namibian filmmaker you look up to?
I would say, Florian Schott, the director of Katutura. I admire his consistency and the fact that he is always willing to share his knowledge in filmmaking.
So, what’s the story around the Orange Mascots?
The Orange Mascot is an idea I thought would be cool for the festival. They are inspired by the Green Screen. Filmmakers usually use people dressed up in green tights to carry people when they shoot films like Superman, so we decided to have ours in Orange since the branding for KinoNamibia is also Orange.
KinoNamibia is slated for 24-26 August 2019 at Goethe-Institut Namibia. The festival is sponsored by the Namibia Film Commission, FNB Namibia, Cramer’s Ice-Cream, Goethe-Institut Namibia and One Africa TV.
Want to be part of KinoNamibia 2019? Purchase one of 200 passes that will be sold at Cramer’s from the end of July 2019 for N$20 and guarantee your spot. Or simply apply here (Kino3) to have your information ready for the festival.
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