Departments of Media Studies and French Launch Films on Campus Festival to Promote Multiculturalism
University of Botswana (UB) departments of Media Studies and French on the 26th of October 2023 launched the second edition of Films on Campus Festival 2023 in Botswana at the UB Library Auditorium.
The film festival showcased talent from Botswana and France to promote values such as multiculturalism. Speaking during the ceremony, Faculty of Humanities Deputy Dean, Professor Thapelo Otlogetswe, indicated that film was not yet fully established at UB. However, he explained that the Department of Visual and Performing Arts was currently formulating a curriculum on film, photography, porter, dance, and signing.
On the other hand, Alliance Francaise Committee President, Ms Bokani Machinya, said the aim was to work with all partners such as UB to promote French studies, francophone cultures as well as values such as multiculturalism. She added that the value of learning French was not just an academic pursuit but a passport to a world of novelty, excitement, and culture.
She noted that cinema was a universal language that allowed people to connect, empathise and understand each other on a profound level. Meanwhile, Professor Andy Chabanne from the Department of French said cinema played important role in fostering cross cultural understanding, learning, language discovery and forging connections that transcended borders.
For his part, UB Film and Television Production Lecturer, Mr Gopolang Ditlhokwa, said film production in Botswana was mostly consumer content than commercially influenced by the small population. He said Botswana’s population was not good enough to sustain film and arts production. He also lamented piracy as one of the major challenges that hindered film and arts production growth in Botswana.
Films on Campus aims to bring French and African cinema to collaborating universities thereby encouraging them to create their own multicultural film festivals. The Botswana Films on Campus 2023 edition aims to bring French and Tswana cinema to university audiences. The selected movies cross generational and geographical boundaries, offering a diverse range of genres, subjects, and ways of storytelling.
The festival features emerging and renowned figures in the French and Botswana cinema and arts. The featured movies are in French, English, and Setswana bearing English subtitles. The festival also featured a round table discussion with significant industry stakeholders and addressed this year’s theme of Cinema and Education.