2nd June, 2011
All is now set for the maiden edition of Na Wa Film Festival in Nigeria, geared towards increasing public knowledge on the dangers of human trafficking. It is an intensive and interactive 10-day awareness raising event scheduled to hold between 13 and 21 June in three key Nigerian states of Lagos, Abuja and Edo respectively.
According to the joint organisers, the festival will feature film screening, book reading, panel discussions, press conferences, networking, receptions and a red carpet closing ceremony in Lagos. Participants will include high level delegates from Nigeria and six participating European countries including Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Switzerland and the United Kingdom as well as government officials, policy makers, law enforcement officials, members of the judiciary and international film makers.
Interestingly, several Nollywood stars and stakeholders including Segun Arinze, National President, Actors’ Guild of Nigeria (AGN) and Uche Jombo, among many others, have all endorsed and agreed to be part of the historic event.
Na wa Festival will be featuring old and new feature films, documentaries and literature which reflect the true stories of Nigerians who have been trafficked to Europe for sex and labour exploitations.
The Abuja event holds between 13 and 14 June at the Bolingo Hotel and Towers, while the Benin outing has been fixed for 16 and 17 of the same month at the Miracle Centre, Idia College and Ekewan Campus, University of Benin, respectively.
The grand finale of the festival will hold in Lagos at the posh Victoria Crown Plaza, Victoria Island, on 18 June.
The festival is jointly organised by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) and an Austrian-based non government organisation, EXIT, founded by a Nigeria-born female filmmaker, Joana Adesuwa Reiterer.
They collectively put up the festival within the framework of the United Nations Global Initiative to Fight Human Trafficking (UN.GIFT).
According to Adesuwa, who is also an actress and producer with several short films and documentaries in Europe and the US to her credit, all the activities had been developed in close cooperation with stakeholders in Nigeria such as the National Agency for Prohibition of Traffic in Persons and other Related Matters (NAPTIP) and Girls Power Initiative, Nigeria (GPI).
“I founded EXIT in 2003, when I moved to Austria, with the aim of combating human trafficking from Africa to Europe. In 2006, I produced the short film, Greener Pastures, illustrating the brutal reality of life of a woman trafficked from Nigeria to Austria. The Austrian Broadcasting Television (ORF) and 3Sat produced a documentary, Sold Dreams, covering my campaign against trafficking of women from Nigeria.
“In 2007, I wrote and produced a play, Dream of Paradise, after which I attained a certification as an event manager in Vienna. Same year together with two Austrian journalists, we researched on the trafficking of African women and girls from Africa to Europe and our findings were published in the book, Ware Frau. And in 2008, I released my autobiography entitled, Die Wassergöttin and acted for the UN.GIFT role-play on human trafficking together with Academy Award winner (Oscars), Emma Thompson, in Vienna and later in New York.â€
For her immense humanitarian efforts, Adesuwa was honoured as an Ambassador of Peace by the Women’s Federation for World Peace in 2008 and in 2009, she co-produced the short film, A Place of Peace, which earned her the first Austrian Liga for human rights award.
She was elected to the Alumni of the American Council of Young Political Leaders by the United States Department of States and in 2010, the proud Nigerian from Edo State, received the MiA award in the category of Humanitarian and social Engagement and the Tara of the Life Goes on Award. She also worked with the German television, BR, to produce a documentary which will be premiered this year.
—Bayo Addetu
