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Entertainment

Liberia: Monrovia Lights Up With Star-Studded Film Festival and Filmmaker Mixer

todayAugust 28, 2024 3

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Monrovia’s film scene was buzzing with excitement as the inaugural Journey Home Film Festival and the Liberia Film Awards Filmmaking Mixer brought together the crème de la crème of Liberia’s film industry. For the first time, celebrated directors and filmmakers gathered under one roof to tackle the challenges facing the nation’s burgeoning film industry.

This event marks the beginning of a new bi-monthly filmmaking series that aims to create a collaborative space for industry professionals to learn, share ideas, and address the pressing issues impacting Liberian cinema.

During the mixer, renowned directors Luther M. Fafallah, Murphy Duwana (standing in for Mamadee S. Sannoh), and Gardeon Mayson didn’t hold back as they shared their candid thoughts on the current state of filmmaking in Liberia. They highlighted the progress made through the Journey Home Film Festival, pinpointed areas needing improvement, and offered solutions to raise Liberian films to international standards.

Luther M. Fafallah, a respected name in the industry, didn’t mince words when he discussed the gap between Liberian films and their international counterparts. “Many Liberian filmmakers produce films haphazardly, without a clear plan for pre- or post-production, leading to films that fall short of their potential,” Fafallah stated. He emphasized the need for better production quality and mentioned ongoing initiatives by the University of Liberia, including his own efforts to develop a filmmaking curriculum.

Newcomer Murphy Duwana, whose film house, under the direction of Mamadee S. Sannoh, has already garnered three awards at the Liberia Film Awards, pointed out that many filmmakers fail to treat filmmaking as a business. “Investing just US$100 in a film cannot yield the same results as a project with a budget exceeding US$1,000,” Duwana remarked. He praised the Journey Home Film Festival and the Liberia Film Awards for fostering a competitive environment and encouraging filmmakers to improve despite the fear of judgment.

Adding to the conversation, seasoned director Gardeon Mayson highlighted the importance of proper budgeting and distribution plans, noting that Liberian filmmakers often overlook their increasingly sophisticated audiences. “My goal has been to find 60 films for a DSTV channel that specifically features Liberian stories. We kept reducing the number of films because we just couldn’t find any that met international standards. We saw that filmmakers kept making the same mistakes, and this is a result of lack of knowledge of filmmaking, budgeting, networking, and collaboration,” Mayson shared.