Namibian Sun

STAFF REPORTER

Award-winning film-maker and MultiChoice Talent Factory (MTF) Academy director Femi Odugbemi will make a special appearance on the New York Film Academy (NYFA) 20/20 Series, an ongoing webinar, tonight.
The 20/20 Series: A Conversation is part of a pop-up event that invites audiences into the homes and workspaces of creative visionaries from across the globe as they share insights into their artistic process and practice.
Odugbemi is included in a guest line-up which has, since its launch earlier this year, featured creatives such as award-winning US film director Adam Bernstein, Golden Globe nominated actor Piper Perabo and Emmy award-winning and Academy Award-nominated film-maker Joe Berlinger, to name only a few.
Odugbemi, who is also a producer, director, member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in the US and four-time head judge for the Africa Magic Viewers’ Choice Awards, will be in conversation with 20/20 Series creator Liz Hinlein, the creative director of film-making and cinematography at the NYFA, as well as an award-winning director and cinematographer.

Global connection
Open to the public as a way of encouraging global connection and creativity, which is a key mission of the NYFA, the first half of the webinar will feature a 20-minute discussion between Hinlein and Odugbemi, followed by a 20-minute Q&A with viewers.
Hinlein’s conversation with Odugbemi marks NYFA’s ongoing partnership with the MTF Academy programme, MultiChoice Africa’s flagship corporate shared value initiative aimed at upskilling the next generation of African TV and film creators with a 12-month training programme at academies in Nigeria, Kenya and Zambia.
“We recognise the importance of storytelling as a cultural exchange that promotes understanding and how the work of the MTF and the NYFA is critical to helping passionate young storytellers find their ‘voice’ cinematically to achieve that potential,” added Odugbemi.

Partnership background
NYFA launched its partnership with MTF in 2018, during the inaugural year of the MTF Academy’s programme, and in 2019, this relationship saw MTF students - one from each of the three academies in West Africa (Lagos), East Africa (Nairobi) and southern Africa (Lusaka) - given a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to participate in an eight-week film workshop at NYFA, one of the world’s leading visual and performing arts schools committed to developing students through a “learning by doing” approach.
Building on the transatlantic partnership that seeks to strengthen and amplify creative voices in film and TV, the conversation between Odugbemi and Hinlein is not to be missed as a platform for critical discourse on film!
To register for the webinar, which will take place at 21h00 tonight, visit nyfa.zoom.us/webinar/register.