ZUMA FESTIVAL 2017: Gowon to chair annual film lecture

FORMER Nigerian head of state, General Yakubu Gowon (Rtd), GCFR, will chair the 2017 edition of ZUMA Film Festival (ZUFF), billed to hold at Lake Mall, Abuja, from December 1 to 3, 2017.

A statement signed by Brian Etuk, Coordinator, Press and General Media, says that General Gowon, is elated by the decision of the Nigerian Film Corporation (NFC) to host the Film Festival and use its platform to sustain the narratives on the need for Nigerians to live together as one great people.

General Gowon commended NFC under Dr. Chidia Maduekwe as Managing Director/Chief Executive for providing the necessary environment for the development of Nigeria’s motion picture industry.

Gowon said it was against the background of NFC’s achievements and desire to sustain its contributions to the overall growth of the nation that he threw his weight behind ZUMA Film Festival 2017, and subsequently accepted to Chair the Annual Film Lecture.

The eighth edition of the NFC Annual Film Lecture, with the theme “Sustaining Socio- Cultural and Political Integration in Nigeria: The Film Perspective” will be delivered by Professor Femi Shaka, film scholar and Dean, Faculty of Management Sciences, University of Port Harcourt, Rivers State.

The lecture to be delivered on day two of the festival will address the current narratives of threats to our country’s unity, peace and progress through the development of positive images and stories, translated into moving images that portray and reinforce tendencies that promote our diverse cultures, economies, languages and dialects, yet as one indivisible nation.

The first edition of ZUMA Film Festival, known then as Nigerian National Film Festival held in 1999 at the National Theatre, Iganmu, Lagos. However, the name of the festival was changed to ZUMA Film Festival in 2006 and subsequently moved to Abuja.

source: Thenation