Edinburgh Africa in Motion wins prestigious international award
The Africa in Motion film festival in Edinburgh has just received a prestigious international award endorsed by the United Nations, from the Foundation for Subjective Experience and Research (S.E.R. Foundation), an organisation that supports worldwide projects in the area of children and youth, culture, inter-cultural dialogue and religion.
The festival received this award in the context of the United Nation’s International Year of Reconciliation 2009. The S.E.R. Foundation presented a report on Africa in Motion to the UN Secretary General in January 2010. Africa in Motion 2009 took as its main theme Reconciliation, with the festival screening a range of films on this topic as well as hosting a symposium and various panel discussions on trauma, conflict, peace and reconciliation in Africa. The S.E.R. Foundation described the Africa in Motion film festival as an outstanding project because it emphasizes the need for reconciliation and the necessary steps for its realization to be taken in order to improve conditions and build bridges leading to a better mutual understanding, and thus creating the basis for sustainable peace.
The festival was selected as one of 12 projects worldwide awarded prizes in the categories of political and socio-economic projects; creative projects; educational/indigenous/athletic projects; and spiritual/healthcare projects. The festival will receive the award at an award ceremony in Switzerland in August.
Lizelle Bisschoff, founder and director of Africa in Motion, says of the award: “We are extremely excited about and proud of this award, which is a wonderful recognition of our attempts to change perceptions of Africa in the UK. Despite the conflicts and problems in Africa that the Western media is inundated with, the continent has achieved peace and reconciliation on so many levels and the West can certainly learn from Africa in various ways. This is what we tried to achieve with last year’s festival and this award is a confirmation that we are on the right track.”
The prize money for the winning film at the 2009 Africa in Motion short film competition - South African Paul Emmanuel’s 3SAI A Rite of Passage, was partially sponsored by the African Movie Channel.
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