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2019 Venice International Film Festival

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Following its screening on the 5th remembrance of the abducted schoolgirls in Chibok town, ‘‘Daughters of Chibok’ will be screened at the 2019 Venice International Film Festival.

The film will be competing in the linear content category, among 12 other Virtual Reality films selected from around the world.

The 76th Venice International Film Festival will run from August 28 to September 7 at Venice Lido.

Representing Nigeria and Africa in the category, ‘Daughters of Chibok’ joins other VR movies from countries including France, China, Japan, Australia, United Kingdom, USA, Italy, Taiwan, and Israel.

The films will be judged by an international jury who will determine the winners for Best VR, Best VR Experience for Interactive Content and Best VR Story for Linear Content awards respectively.

Speaking on the movie, Benson told Pulse that one of the reasons he’s pushing the film across the world is to raise funds for families of victims of the insurgents.

We hope that this film serves as a vehicle to not only transport people to Chibok, but we also want to use it as a means of raising financial assistance to families of victims of the insurgents. It is one thing to lose your child and spend years waiting for her return, and it is another to still be living in abject poverty.  

Joel Kachi Benson's second Virtual Reality film, 'Daughters of Chibok' tells the story of a kidnapped schoolgirl from Chibok. [Kachi Benson]
Joel Kachi Benson’s second Virtual Reality film, ‘Daughters of Chibok’ tells the story of a kidnapped schoolgirl from Chibok. [Kachi Benson]

“We must remember that these women have other children to cater for, and when you don’t have the means of taking care of them, that is extra pain. If we can’t bring back their girls now, at least we should be able to do something about their economic situation”, he said.

More so, he said he realised the significant role the womenfolk of Chibok play in sustaining their families, thus the need to support affected mothers who are waiting for the return of their daughters.

Daughters of Chibok‘, which is the first-ever VR film on the infamous Chibok kidnappings, centers on Yana Galang, a woman leader in Chibok, whose daughter was among the kidnapped Chibok girls.

The film is a stark reminder that the traumatic events of that fateful night in April 2014 are still fresh, and there are women still waiting for their children to be returned.

The 11-minute short film mirrors Galang’s pain as she hopefully awaits the return of her daughter while struggling to live a normal life as a peasant farmer.

In 2018, Benson made his first Virtual Reality film, ‘In Bakassi‘, a short film that captures the plight of children living with PTSD in Internally Displaced Persons Camps in the northeast region.

 

 

Credit: pulse.ng