The national organizing committee of the Pan-African Film and Television Festival of Ouagadougou (FESPACO) organized, from March 9 to 12, 2023, in Bobo-Dioulasso, the screening of the best films of the 2023 edition. The official ceremony of launch of this mini-FEPACO took place on Saturday March 11, 2023, under the chairmanship of the Minister in charge of Culture, Jean Emanuel Ouédraogo.
As has been the custom for the last three editions, the Pan-African Film and Television Festival of Ouagadougou (FESPACO), following the closing of the 28th edition on March 4, moved to Bobo-Dioulasso. It was on the occasion of the “FESPACO in Bobo-Dioulasso” which was held from March 9 to 12, 2023 in the city of Sya. The official opening ceremony took place on Saturday March 11, 2023 under the chairmanship of the Minister of Communication, Culture, Arts and Tourism, Jean Emanuel Ouédraogo. For the Minister, the organization of this mini-FESPACO is a duty to allow Bobo film lovers to experience the Festival. And to invite the Bobolais to take advantage of these screenings and discover a filmography that has already proven itself at FESPACO. Jean Emanuel Ouédraogo also suggested that the holding of FESPACO in Bobo-Dioulasso, and in general, national cultural and artistic events, are expressions of response and resistance to obscurantist ideologies. “The valiant populations of Burkina Faso, artists and cultural professionals continue to show their resilience in these difficult times and their combativeness in the face of the terrorist hydra. This week of celebration of cinema is an illustration of this as well as the theme which focuses on cinema and the culture of peace,” he said. The general delegate of FESPACO, Alex Moussa Sawadogo, sounded the same trumpet as the minister. This edition of Bobo-Dioulasso, he argued, is important.
“In parallel with the screening of these films, there are training courses on cinema professions and on the financing of cinema”, he confided. As for the President of the National Organizing Committee (PCO) of FESPACO, Fidèle Tamini, he indicated that it was inconceivable that this film festival would take place without Bobo-Dioulasso, the cultural capital of the country. The mini-FESPACO, he continued, aims to allow Bobo film lovers to watch the “best” films of the Festival and visit the contribution of these films to the resolution of the crises facing Burkina Faso. Training workshops, master-classes, a shopping street, exhibitions, conferences and distinctions and tributes to film and audio-visual actors and tourist excursions furnished these cinematographic days in the city of Sya . In addition to the Mgr Anselme Titianman Sanon Culture House, which hosted most of the film screenings, other spaces including the central town hall square, the Yéguéré omnisports platform and the Saint-Etienne district were chosen for traveling screenings. In total, around thirty films, including FESPACO award-winning films, were screened during the 4 days of the event. As a reminder, the 28th edition was held from February 25 to March 4 in Ouagadougou under the theme: “African cinema and culture of peace”.
Alpha Sekou BARRY
