#GFN24 will be hosting its very own film festival, showcasing the best short films from the GFN community exploring the vital role of tobacco harm reduction in the public health sphere. Multi-award-winning film maker Emmanuel Mwape joins us to tell us all about the GFN Film Festival, and what we have to look forward to live at #GFN24 in Warsaw!
Check the Film Festival subpage on GFN Events website: https://gfn.events/films/film-festival/
Chapters:
0:00 - Introducing the GFN Film Festival 1:02 - Joining us on today's programme 1:40 - Emmanuel Mwape's THR journey 3:04 - Emmanuel's experience as a THRSP scholar 4:32 - Brand new for #GFN24! 5:52 - What are the categories for the GFN Film Festival? 6:27 - GFN Film Festival submission deadline 7:24 - The power of THR film making!Transcription:
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Joanna Junak: Hello and welcome! I'm Joanna Junak and this is GFN News on GFN.TV. The Global Forum on Nicotine 2024 will be taking place this June in Warsaw, alongside brand new sessions, keynotes, workshops and brand new for 2024 the GFN Film Festival. It's a place where filmmakers, creators and advocates can introduce their works that highlight the importance of tobacco harm reduction as a key public health strategy. It's an opportunity to present your narrative, documentary or animated film to the GFN24 conference and beyond. Joining us today to share more information about the GFN Film Festival is Emmanuel Mwape, a multi-award-winning filmmaker whose portfolio covers works addressing social problems with a key focus on tobacco harm reduction. Presently, Emmanuel is currently a Kevin Molloy Fellow under the Tobacco Harm Reduction Scholarship Programme, concurrently fulfilling the role of a Film Festival Curator at GFN24. Hello Emmanuel, it's good to have you on the program. First, can you tell us a little bit about your work as a filmmaker and how you got interested in tobacco harm reduction?
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Emmanuel Mwape: So basically, my name is Emmanuel Mwape. I am an award-winning filmmaker based in Lusaka, Zambia. I possess diverse experience in film production ranging from fiction and non-fiction. And in the past years, most of the films that I have created have been sending messages on social issues, social problems. And in the past years, in 2018, I got to create a film that was talking about drug abuse. Then it is from there that I met a colleague from Malawi, who is Jonathan, who introduced me to tobacco harm reduction. It was like, I think the kind of films that you create, I think you would resonate well if you would also try to convert the message using, to tell stories about tobacco harm reduction. That's how I got interested about about tobacco harm reduction and also looking at the diverse problems that we are facing. Maybe from the country where I'm coming from, we have a number of people that are addicted to smoking. I thought of it that it's one of the ways that I can contribute to the noble cause in regards to tobacco harm reduction. Yes, so that's it basically in short for me.
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Joanna Junak: You participated in the Tobacco Harm Reduction Scholarship Program. Can you tell us about your experience with it?
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Emmanuel Mwape: So I got part of the Tobacco Harm Reduction Scholarship Program in 2019, where I did my first project, which was a short film called ,,Saving Chalo" which went on to win a number of awards around the world. So my experience in regards to being part of the Tobacco Harm Reduction Scholarship Program has been great in the sense that it has also not only given me an opportunity and the funding to tell stories, but it has also given me an opportunity to contribute to the positive change in regards to the harm that tobacco is causing to people around the world. And also my experience, because I've also been learning from other scholars who were involved in the tobacco harm reduction program and also just being given a mentor to mentor me in regards to tobacco harm reduction and also my personal life. I think it has helped me in a number of ways that I can't even explain on this interview. It has empowered me a lot. And currently I'm doing the Kevin Molloy Fellowship. I'm one of the recipients of the Kevin Molloy Fellowship for last year. It has also empowered me academically because I'm studying just because of the Tobacco Harm Reduction Scholarship Program.
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Joanna Junak: You are a curator of this year's GFN Film Festival. Are you excited to be part of this project?
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Emmanuel Mwape: Yes, I am extremely excited to be part of this project. I remember this conversation came on last year when I attended the GFN. I think a number of people were asking me to say, and I was asking also the organizers of the GFN to say, why can't we have the GFN Film Festival and was like, I think we had one in the previous years. I think maybe because we didn't give it much attention that it deserved. I think it's something that we should look forward to and bring back. So I am extremely excited for the GFN Film Festival in the sense that because film has the power to ignite conversations, film has the power to to travel beyond borders, just like the films that I have created in the past in regards to theater. They have traveled over borders, not just within here, but they have gone far and beyond. So I think I am extremely excited about this. And I think there's a lot of positives that will come out of this film festival. It's an exciting event. That's everybody that will be attending the GFN and those that will not be, they should look forward to this and the content that the filmmakers are going to produce and share with us.
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Joanna Junak: Great, thank you. So let's talk about film festival itself. What kind of films are you looking for?
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Emmanuel Mwape: So the kind of films that we are looking for in this year's GFN ranges from narrative short films, documentary short films, animations, presentations, and also just interviews. So we are looking at a broader perspective of films. So all these narratives that I mentioned, the four categories will be there at the GFN.
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Joanna Junak: And are there any restrictions about the length of the films?
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Emmanuel Mwape: Yes, so there is a restriction in terms of the nature, in terms of the runtime of the film, because we are also trying to look at how best can somebody communicate the information in the shortest period of time, because I believe that there are people that do not stick to the screen for a long period of time. We have restricted this year's film festival films to 15 minutes. So the films must be the maximum runtime that you can get to is 15 minutes. So you can create a short film between one minute to 15 minutes. So it's up to you as a creative to see what works for you.
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Joanna Junak: And what is the deadline for entries?
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Emmanuel Mwape: So the films can be submitted through the GFN website. So the deadline for the submission of the films, it's the 12th of May, 2024.
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Joanna Junak: Thank you. And as we reach the end of our conversation, I would like to ask you, why do you believe that film is a good medium for conveying information about theatre?
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Emmanuel Mwape: I believe, and it was also evident from the past projects that I've created, even just films that I've created that have not only been centered on THR and those that I've created about THR. So a film has proved that it is a great medium that we must embrace in regards to sharing information about tobacco harm reduction, because film can ignite your conversations. Through somebody watching a film, they're able to start start creating conversations, creating debates on the subject matters. And because film can also create an emotional impact on the people that are watching, the people that are watching the film. And with film, people can easily relate to the things that are happening all over the world. And also, film can be accessible in different mediums. So you can get films that can be accessible on your phone, on your TV. You can watch a film when you're on your way, when you're traveling out there. So I think film is something that is very important that we must critically look into because film can also serve as a tool, it serves as a tool for advocates on different subjects, like what we are doing with, what I'm doing with my films, amazing awareness in regards to tobacco harm reduction and also igniting conversation through the medium of film.
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Joanna Junak: Thank you, Emmanuel. That's all for today. Join us in spreading awareness and advocating for positive change through the art of filmmaking at the GFN24 Film Festival. More information on how to submit your project can be found at the link in video description. Thanks for watching or listening. See you next time.