His Excellency Roch Marc Christian KABORE , President of Faso, gave this Saturday, October 16, 2021, at the Ouaga 2000 Sports Palace, the opening clap of the 27th edition of the Pan-African Film and Television Festival of Ouagadougou (Fespaco) . It was in the presence of the Minister of Culture and Communication of Senegal (guest of honor), HE Abdoulaye DIOP, from Commissioner for Education, Science and Culture of the ECOWAS Commission, Dr. Mamadu JAO, representing the President of the ECOWAS Commission, HE Jean-Claude Brou Kassi and several hundred professionals of the 7th art from Africa and the rest of the world.
This biennial cultural event, whose current edition is placed under the theme: “Cinemas from Africa and the Diaspora: new perspectives, new challenges” , will continue until Saturday 23 October 2021. It will see the participation and involvement many partners including the ECOWAS Commission which will award four special prizes with a total value of approximately sixty thousand (60,000) US dollars.
The launching ceremony of the 27th Fespaco, colorful, took place in a festive atmosphere with the performance of many artists including a ballet of dancers and acrobats full of talent as well as the Senegalese singer Baba Mal, strongly acclaimed by a large audience.
For the Minister Elise ILBOUDO / THIOMBIANO of Culture, Arts and Tourism of Burkina Faso, speaking at the ceremony, this edition is intended to be a “bundle of convergences and skills of African cinema”. After an honorable greeting addressed to the Defense and Security Forces (FDS) and recognition of the work done by her predecessors who worked for the promotion of Fespaco, the Minister of Culture invited the various actors of the entire cinema chain, to seize the opportunity offered to them to reflect on the future of African cinema.
On the sidelines of the launching ceremony of the festival, Commissioner Mamadu JAO , met this Sunday, October 17, 2021, in the company of the Resident Representative of ECOWAS in Burkina Faso, Mr. Tiéna Coulibaly , the ECOWAS jury composed of five members including two women , coming from the three linguistic zones of ECOWAS. Commissioner JAO congratulated the members of the jury for their choice, wished them every success in their mission and warmly thanked them, on behalf of the President of the ECOWAS Commission, for their availability.
During this meeting with the members of the Jury, the JAO Commissioner communicated to them the orientations and the selection criteria of the various ECOWAS prize winners. Above all, he asked them to carry out their mission with transparency and objectivity. The ECOWAS Commissioner for Culture also invited them to come with him on Monday, October 18, 2021, to the Fespaco site to visit the ECOWAS stand and discuss with officials, journalists and visitors. of the festival.
Through a press briefing moderated by Professor Charlemagne Ouédraogo, the Minister of Health of Burkina Faso, the Burkinabé authorities were especially keen to reassure the public about the conditions that have been taken on the 15 sites planned to offer a pleasant stay. festival-goers, due to the current health context, marked by the coronavirus pandemic. It’s about in particular: wearing a mask, using hydroalcoholic gel, taking the temperature, social distancing, voluntary and free vaccination. He also wished a strong support of the population to these measures, in order to give a nice shine to this great meeting of Pan-African cinema.
For this 27th edition, over 1132 entries, only 239 films from 50 countries in Africa and the Diaspora were chosen by an international selection committee equally diverse of eight film professionals and audiovisual, including three women. Among these films, 17 from 15 countries are in competition for the Yennenga Gold Standard.
