Gran Kaz encourages the Art of Cinema in Seychelles.

The first edition of the Festival de Films D’éducation which will take place between the 3rd and the 10th of September will be held here in the Seychelles.

The regional competition which has as its aim to train young people through the art of cinema to find and invent more progressive, safe and socio-centric ways of life, was launched at Secondary and Post –Secondary school levels.

The initiative was brought forth in the Seychelles by the l’Association Seychelloise pour La Jeunesse et l’Animation (ASJA) a member of CEMEA. In fact it was the General Assembly of the FICEMEA held in Namur, Belgium last December, that nominated Seychelles, and the ASJA to host the first ever Festival of this kind in the Indian Ocean.

The participants had the task of producing a short montage of 5-15 mins in the form of either fiction, documentary or animation. Under the broad theme of education, the youngsters were free to choose whichever subject they felt strongly about – be it of positive or negative impact on society.

Participants from secondary and post-secondary schools in Seychelles, attended an initiation workshop in March and April this year where they were taught the fundamentals of the various elements of film production – script writing, camera operation, and other technical aspects of film-making.

Their final products were presented on August 10th at the University of Seychelles Theatre, before a jury panel A total of 12 movies were presented in all. The subject matter of the productions varied from bullying in the schools, to domestic abuse, prostitution, lack of environmental awareness just to name a few.

The first prize in both categories was sponsored by Gran Kaz, and these were handed over to the Seychelles Institute of Agriculture and Horticulture (SIAH) in the post-secondary category for their piece showcasing the importance of agriculture in our economy, and to Belonie Secondary school for their film focusing on Bullying and the need to stand up to it.

“we firmly believe that art has a huge role to play in the development of our youth – be it through visual or performing arts. Which is why we are happy to encourage them in their efforts to master these arts. Film production isn’t a skill or vocation that is readily available to many young people in this country, but who’s to say that given the chance they wouldn’t be the next Francis Ford Coppola or Akira Kurosawa. We all have to start from somewhere in order to be great at something. We are glad we were able to promote this opportunity – especially considering its focus on education and social aspects”. Shama Amesbury – Public Relations and Communications Manager at Gran Kaz.

Other Winners in the post secondary Category were the Seychelles A-Level Studies (SALS), and the Seychelles Business Studies Academy (SBSA) in Second and third place respectively. As for the Secondary school category Pointe Larue school took home the 2nd prize, whereas Grand Anse Praslin came out 3rd.

All six winning films will be taken to the regional level, at the first ever Festival de Films D’éducation in the Indian Ocean Region.

We are very proud of them all and will definitely be routing for them at the next stage of the competition.