EAC extends deadline for short film competition

EAC Secretary General, Ambassador Libérat Mfumukeko

The East African Community (EAC) has opened the portal for submission of the inaugural Short Film Competition and extended the deadline for submissions to April 30.

Launched in January 2020 in Nairobi at Daystar University, the maiden EAC Short Film Competition is the latest attempt to inspire and capture views, and desires of the young citizens in East Africa.

EAC Secretary-General, Ambassador Libérat Mfumukeko said the contest is part of a year-long effort to reach out to over 10 million citizens using new innovative tools as part of a new campaign dubbed “The EAC I Deserve” a Citizens’ Engagement Campaign. 

“The EAC Short Film Competition will involve young people from all our six Partner States. A total prize of Sh2.5 million awaits the innovative 33 youthful winners, short films in the French language will be accepted that have English subtitles and the submission deadline has been extended to 30th April 2020 to allow for more young people to collaborate using online tools. The short films will be judged based on creativity, originality, popularity, entertainment value and advancement of the integration agenda” said Mfumukeko.

“The EAC Short Film Competition creates a new opportunity for us to hear stories directly from the citizens on what they think we have so far achieved, the impact we have made to their world and the future EAC they want to live in,” Mfumukeko added.  

He said key inspiration technology adoption among the youth in the region was the inspiration behind the competition.

“Interested youth should upload their submissions on their personal or friends Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Instagram or TikTok accounts, include the campaign hashtag #TheEACiDeserve in their postings on digital channels and later upload the films through www.theeacideserve.com. Entrants aged between 18 to 35 years, East Africans are eligible to enter the contest where they are at liberty to use any genre to produce the video or animation, and the length should be between 30 to 59 seconds” Said Mfumukeko.

Amb. Mfumukeko added the extension of time is as a result of disruptions caused by restrictions of movement of people in the region due to safety measure implemented by the Partner States as a result of the spread of corona virus in some part of East Africa.

The year-long campaign supported by the German Government through German Development Cooperation (GIZ), has several activities aimed at igniting a reflection of achievements and challenges over the past 20 years to create a new momentum that inspires citizens belief on the EAC integration efforts.

The EAC Short Film Competition is part of “The EAC i Deserve campaign”. A year-long citizens’ engagement campaign that creates a platform where East Africans can share their aspirations, ambitions and desires about the livelihood they wish to experience going forth. The campaign encourages all stakeholders to work together to build an economically secure and prosperous future as citizens brought together under one theme: One People, One Destiny. 

National sensitization activities to publicize the campaign have been carried in Nairobi, Kampala, Kigali and Bujumbura as part of the mobilization efforts to encourage citizens to take the chance to inspire the change they want to see in the region.