4th October, 2023
By Taiye Olayemi
The organisers of the Badagry International Film, Cultural and Sports Festival (BIFIF) on Wednesday said the maiden edition of the festival has been slated to be held from Oct. 25 to Oct. 28.
Mr Viyon Awhanse, Chief Executive Officer of BIFIF, while speaking with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos said that the festival had so far generated over 3,000 film entries.
Awhanse noted that 30 of the films would be carefully selected for screening in the course of the festival.
He said the aim of organising the festival was to reposition Badagry and make it attractive to local and International tourists.
According to him, BIFIF has considered films projecting spirituality, celebrating sports, culture and promoting tourism.
“This is a long-term project which we started in 2015, I am from Badagry, a town immensely endowed but nothing is happening in terms of tourism.
“This is my way of ensuring Badagry gains more feasibility to attract tourists: using the audiovisuals because we discovered it is the best way to educate people about the potential in the town; people do not read again.
“We will be screening 30 films, 10 for each day of the festival.
“To also make the town and its people come alive and have some sense of inclusiveness, there would be sporting activities around the beautiful coastal area of Badagry.
“We will have tourists engage in a 10km race along the shores of the coastal line as well as boat regatta, volleyball and beach soccer,” he said.
Awhanse noted that over 5,000 tourists were expected from Brazil, Asia, East Africa and more nations across the globe.
Mawuyon Ogun, Director of Media, BIFIF, said the theme for the festival, “Once Upon A Time”,
was carefully chosen to educate tourists to begin to see Badagry as a safe and secure town with hospitable and friendly people.