Two Swedish video artists, Rut Karin Zettergren and Sonia Hedstrand, have successfully organised a three-day workshop in film production for students of the Kwara State University (KWASU), Malete.
The students drawn from the Department of Mass Communications and the School of Visual and Performing Arts, had hands-on training in movie production, directing and networking at the workshop, which was held at the university auditorium.
According to the video artists, the workshop was to expose the participants to the dynamics of movie production and motivate them towards becoming key players and change agents in the nation’s movie industry in the near future.
The duo from Swedish Film Academy noted that they were in Nigeria to understudy Nollywood with their art background, so as to improve the Swedish film industry, as well as spread awareness about the Nigerian movie industry and economy. According to them, it takes about six years to produce a film in Sweden due to government policy, unlike what is obtainable in Nigeria.
“We have the art background, so we are actually here to learn from Nollywood. It is a mutual learning process. We want to involve the students and motivate them to share their knowledge and skills with one another,” they said.
The artists also stated that they were working on a blend of documentary and movie to project how Nollywood would evolve as a centre of attraction for filmmakers across the globe in the near future, just as they looked forward to a possible collaboration with the Kwara State University.
According to KWASU’ bulletin made available to Campusbeats, aside video clips and still images of their works shown to the participants, they also put them through various techniques involved in movie production, while the students were later grouped to produce short movies on the role of women in Nollywood and their projection for the industry which they presented on the last day of the workshop.
The convener of the workshop, Dr Ayotunde Alao of the Department of Mass Communications, said more female students were involved in the movie production process during the workshop to address the male dominance and negative portrayal of women in the nation’s movie industry.
“The whole idea is to bring more women into the production and directing business and help them to become movie producers and directors,” he stated.
Dr Alao who expressed optimism that the Swedish artists’ visit to KWASU would attract bigger collaboration from the Swedish film industry, advised the students to take full advantage of the workshop.
Another speaker at the workshop, Mr Juwon Oloruntoba, a Nigerian-based theatre practitioner and dance instructor, described the entertainment industry as a big job-creating industry, and urged the students to explore the industry to become employers of labour.