6th Environmental Film Festival of Accra 2010 opens-Focus on CLIMATE CHANGE

Creative Storm, a leading communicator for social development in Ghana, in collaboration with the Environmental Film Festival of Accra (EFFA) opened this year’s festival at the College of Physicians and Surgeons Hall. Themes for this year’s festival are ‘is Ghana ready for climate change?’ and ‘can Ghana solve its waste crisis?’ To answer these questions the festival will hold two sets of panel discussions at the British Council on Friday 4^th and Tuesday 8^th June. The whole event began yesterday 3rd June and will continuing till 10^th June.

Among the panel discussants will be Dr. Sean Doolan (Adviser,Climate Change and Environmental Governance), Mr. Oppong Boabi (programme officer, Environmental Protection Agency) and Mr. Stuart Gold (CEO, Trashy Bags).

So far the attraction of the festival seems to be focused on the premiere of ‘fantastic in plastic’ which will be screened at the Dzorwulu premises of Trashy Bags on Sunday. Trashy Bags is a company that makes innovative products from plastic wastes in Ghana.

Series of environmental documentaries have been scheduled to be shown at the British Council, Trashy Bags, Alliance Francais and the Goethe-Institut. As part of their open air screenings, which attract over 7,000people last year, this year the organizers have decide to show 5 films at the refugee settlement in Budumburam, on the outskirts of Accra.

Preceding the open air screening at the refugee camp in Budumburam, a concert headlined by Mastretta, a ten-piece, chart topping Spanish band will perform together with Kings Jubilee and a roll call of local artistes.

Since its inception in 2004, EFFA, has screened over a 100 films covering wide range of issues, sanitation, plastic waste, environment etc. Internationally, about 1000 films have been screened elsewhere.

At the formal opening, Dr. Juliette Tuakli, Chairperson of EFFA, said the festival started as a small collection of friends and film enthusiasts who came together to watch films that concerns about the environment.

There was a climate change drama sketch titled ‘Heat Wave’ presented by the Theatre Factory after premiere of ‘a long dry season’ film directed by Dr.Kwesi Owusu, a co-director of the festival. This documentary looks at the impact of climate change in Ghana with a focus on women’s livelihoods. It reveals the dwindling water levels at Akosombo, site of Ghana’s hydroelectric dam, significant sea erosion at Keta and threats to the cocoa industry.

A list of Ghanaian made documentaries featuring in the festival include: a long dry season(10mins, Dir Kwesi Owusu), Agbobloshie(9mins, Young Filmmakers Workshop), Ghana’s Plastic Waste Manace(14mins, Dir Kwesi Owusu), Greening the City (7mins,Dir Kwesi Owusu) Stop the Noise (6min,Young Filmmakers Workshop), Electronic Waste( 10mins, Dir Kwesi Owusu) and Environmental Patrol strikes again (6min,Young Filmmakers Workshop)