South Sudan seeks identity through annual film festival
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E-mail Xinhua, September 5, 2017
The second annual South Sudanese film festival kicked off on Tuesday, seeking to showcase true stories in the youngest country ravaged by more than three years of conflict.
Joyce John Thomas, from the Juba Film Limited, the organizer of the event, told Xinhua in Juba they seek to highlight the cultural and social identity of South Sudanese by awarding the three best movies among the 32 local movies and 37 foreign movies to be screened.
"We believe South Sudanese can make movies that can be shown outside. We want South Sudanese people to share our story and to give solutions and this can be done through the film," Thomas said.
The movies will eventually be screened on the South Sudan national television, she said.
The annual film festival, which started last year, seeks to motivate and grow the nascent creative arts and culture sector in a country still struggling to find its footing and national identity.
It also seeks to help South Sudan recover in the aftermath of several decades of civil war that have brought untold humanitarian suffering amid huge refuge influx in the region.
"We have awards in twenty categories for best movies, director, camera, supporting actor and actress. The three best films are going to be awarded cash prizes," Thomas said.
She said movies from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Tanzania, Rwanda, Tanzania, France, Sweden and Germany with similar cultural connection to the South Sudanese experience will be screened.
South Sudan descended into violence in December 2013 after political dispute between President Salva Kiir and his former deputy Riek Machar led to fighting that pitted mostly Dinka ethnic soldiers loyal to Kiir against Machar's Nuer ethnic group.
A 2015 peace agreement to end the violence was again violated in July 2016 when the rival factions resumed fighting in the capital, forcing Machar to flee into exile.
The conflict has killed tens of thousands of people and forced millions of others to seek refuge in neighboring countries.
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