The European Union (EU) organised a four-day training workshop through the European Film Festival to help local screenwriters improve their writing material and production packages.

The training, which began on Monday and ended Thursday at the Franco Namibian Cultural Centre (FNCC) in the capital, was aimed at strengthening the capacity of upcoming and established filmmakers to further develop their skills, which will ultimately affect their production output.

In an interview with Nampa on Thursday, Gosia Lachut, Deputy Head of the EU Delegation to Namibia, said the training workshop is part of the European Film Festival which the EU is hosting in Namibia for the first time.

She added that the training was led by experts of the highest calibre, including Simona Nobile, who has worked in the industry for 16 years and is a member of the 100 Autori Association, which represents Italian directors and screenwriters.

Lachut also mentioned that producer and founder of Monday Films in Ghana, Ama Ampadu shared her filmography expertise, as well as being a member of the Hot Docs-Blue Ice Docs Fund 2021 Selection Committee, which helps Africans tell their stories through documentaries.

This year’s EU Film Festival is themed ‘Life is about laughter, sadness, joy, wonders and timeless stories’, and is running for two months, every Wednesday from 06 October until 01 December 2021, at The Village.

The festival will screen award-winning European and Namibian films, with a total of six European and three Namibian films screening, covering a variety of genres and topics with a unique storytelling approach, Lachut said.

The training was made possible by the Goethe-Institut Namibia, the embassies of Spain and Finland and Club Italiano Namibia, in collaboration with the Namibia Film Commission, the Filmmakers Association of Namibia and Ombetja Yehinga Organisation.

Source: The Namibian Press Agency