No fewer than 54 countries have submitted their entries for the 2016 edition of the annual fiesta, Abuja International Film Festival which opened on Tuesday night.
Organiser of the event described the entries as unprecedented since the inception of the festival in 2004.
This year’s festival has as its theme “Connecting Global Audiences,” director of the event, Fidelis Duker, said.
He said, “This has become so significant based on the theme of the festival this year.
“Our global partnership has allowed us see films from countries like Iran, Argentina, India, Germany, Cameroon and the U. S.
“The participating countries expressed satisfaction at the 2016 edition of the fiesta which also involved a documentary master class of America Film exhibition.
“This master-class will facilitate a dialogue between authors, producers, distributors, cinema owners, television companies, internet actors and financiers, with filmmakers of four American films screening at this year’s festival.”
Duker said the four-day event would feature seminars, panel discussions and awards for films and actors and other stakeholders, nominated for the AIFF awards.
Declaring the event open, the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, thanked the organisers for sustaining the festival over the years.
He pledged Federal Government’s support, especially to the creative industry at large.
