The general delegate of FESPACO Alex Moussa Sawadogo presented the innovations of the 2025 edition in N’Djamena, the capital of Chad, the guest country of honor. This was during a press conference hosted jointly with the Secretary General of the Ministry of Tourism Development, Culture and Crafts Abdoulaye Souleymane Babalé, Wednesday December 11, 2024.
A week after the presentation of the visual of the 29e edition of FESPACO in Ouagadougou, the general delegation of FESPACO is in Chad the guest country of honor to present its great innovations. The general delegate of FESPACO Alex Moussa Sawadogo, accompanied by the secretary general of the Ministry of Tourism Development, Culture and Crafts, spoke for more than an hour with Chadian journalists at the heart of N’Djamena.
He thus presented the Chadians who will participate as jury members in the 29e edition of FESPACO. These are Célestin Mandowé in the gold standard jury of Yenenga feature film, Youssouf Djaoro in the official short film jury. Zara Mahamat Yakoub will be on the jury of the Thomas Sankara Prize for Pan-Africanism and Issa Serge Coelo president of the Burkina films section jury.
N’Djamena also had the exclusivity of the major innovation of FESPACO 2025. It consists of the broadcasting of all the films which will be awarded prizes at FESPACO for a week in Chad. “We intend to allow the populations of N’Djamena and other cities to experience FESPACO. Those who were unable to make the trip to Ouagadougou will still have the opportunity to experience the creativity of the African film industry,” said the CEO of FESPACO.
The establishment of a new official prize called the Thomas Sankara Prize for Pan-Africanism endowed by the Presidency of Faso and the endowment of the public prize by the National Television of Burkina are part of the innovations of the next edition of FESPACO. « Nous sommes très fiers de ce prix qui va récompenser des producteurs, réalisateurs qui des projets qui contribue à renforcer le panafricanisme sur le continent africain », a-t-il poursuivi. The critics’ week, which will be organized for the first time, will allow filmmakers to discuss films that have an impact on African countries and directors to identify films that shake things up.
Regarding the state of preparations for FESPACO 2025, Alex Moussa Sawadogo said he was more than satisfied, especially the collaboration with the guest country of honor is going well. Il a ajouté que le comité national d’organisation s’attèle à garantir la réussite de la fête du cinéma africain avec le soutien du pays invité d’honneur. Le délégué général a annoncé que le comité international de sélection a reçu 1351 films malgré l’instauration d’un forfait pour la participation des films. “We received 5 Chadian films and this is the first time that we have received so many films from the guest of honor country” he rejoiced.
Journalists questioned the hosts of the press conference about the criteria for selecting films and the guest country of honor. En réponse, le DG du FESPACO a indiqué que le premier critère de sélection d’un film est sa qualité. Quant au choix du pays invité d’honneur il a confié que c’est une prérogative des plus hautes autorités du Burkina. The secretary general of the ministry in charge of culture of Chad Abdoulaye Souleymane Babalé declared that the choice of Chad as guest country of honor of the 29e edition of FESPACO is a symbol of fraternity and communion between his country and Burkina Faso. “We are very proud of it. As guest country of honor, FESPACO offers us the opportunity to present several facets of our culture. Through the focus on Chad, we will show films from Chadian cinematographic heritage from the first directors to the new generation,” he commented.
Nadège IS