African Film Press (AFP) has appointed three critics to join the jury for the AFP Critics Prize at Open Doors, the Locarno Film Festival’s co-production and talent development platform, taking place from Aug. 5–10 in Locarno, Switzerland.
Kenyan film critic Kelvin Kariuki and Nigerian critics Vivian Nneka Nwajiaku and Ini-Abasi Jeffrey will serve alongside AFP co-founders Tambay Obenson, Jennifer Ochieng and Ikeade Oriade to select the winning film from five African short films screening in this year’s Open Doors programme.
The appointment marks the first time AFP has invited external critics to participate in the jury, a model the organisation plans to continue. The prize was established to expand critical engagement with African cinema while providing a platform for a new generation of African film critics.
This year’s shortlisted films are Concrete Moves by Fagamou Fama Ndiaye (Senegal), Goat by Judy Kibinge (Kenya), sKINs_Addis Abeba by Rediet Haddis Yalew (Ethiopia), Submergido by Ariel Añez (Mozambique), and Time to Change by Poças Pascoal (Portugal/Angola).
The winning filmmaker will receive a monogrammed certificate, a US$500 cash prize and continued editorial coverage across AFP’s founding publications; Akoroko, Sinema Focus and What Kept Me Up.
The inaugural AFP Critics Prize was presented to Nigerian filmmaker Dika Ofoma for Obi Is a Boy at the fifth S16 Film Festival in Lagos last December.
Two more editions of the prize are scheduled for later this year, including a return to the S16 Film Festival in December and a third partner festival yet to be announced. Meanwhile, Locarno’s Open Doors enters the second year of its four-edition cycle dedicated to 42 African countries, with this year’s winners set to be announced on Aug. 10.
