Africa in Motion (AiM) has announced that the winner of this year’s Short Film Competition (chosen by a jury of acclaimed film practitioners and academics) is Mwansa The Great. Directed by Zambian filmmaker Rungano Nyoni.
The film is about an eight-year-old boy who aspires to be a hero and embarks upon a journey to prove his greatness, with unexpected consequences.
AiM jury member Mark Cousins described Mwansa The Great as “Playful [with] loads of simple but very effective visual tricks. It really puts us inside the mind of an imagining child.’
Cousins’ fellow jury members commented:
“This film had my heart from the beginning to the bitter end.’ Zina Saro-Wiwa
“A wonderful and fantastic short film that beautifully captures a sense of childhood play in all its absurdity and inherent surrealism.’ Paul Dale
“Right from the opening credits the film had an energy which never dipped.’ David Archibald
“Highly engaging and successful cutting edge drama moving between reality and Imaginary.’ Noe Mendelle
For the fifth consecutive year, AiM invited African filmmakers to submit short films of up to 30 minutes for its annual Short Film Competition. From the dozens of submissions, eight films were shortlisted, comprising a diverse and captivating collection of work from across the continent. With styles ranging from experimental and futuristic to animation and dramatic, these films are representative of the dynamic and progressive filmmaking in contemporary Africa.
The Short Film Competition is part of AiM’s commitment to nurturing young African filmmaking talent, offering a cash prize of £1,000 to the winning film.
Audiences in both Glasgow and Edinburgh will also have the opportunity to vote for their favourite films with the Audience Award winners announced at the closing screenings of the festival on 31 Oct (Glasgow) and 2 Nov (Edinburgh), where both the jury winning film and the audience’s favourite will be screened again.
The rest of the shortlisted films were:
Le Parrain (The Godfather) (Lazare Sie Pale, Burkina Faso)
Dog (Jaco Minnaar, South Africa)
Who Killed Me (Amil Shivji, Tanzania/Canada)
Nola (Askia Traore, France/Chad)
Mkhobbi Fi Kobba (Turbulence) (Leyla Bouzid, Tunisia/France)
Kichwateli (TV-Head) (Bobb Muchiri, Kenya)
Salam Ghourba (Farewell Exile) (Lamia Alami, Morocco/USA/Switzerland)
The full AiM programme is available at: www.africa-in-motion.org.uk
