Lagos State Government on Monday said that the city’s tourism and entertainment potential will take the centre stage at the 2016 edition of the Toronto International Film Festival, saying that eight films produced in the state would be selected to feature at the fiesta.
The government is particularly excited that Lagos will take the spotlight in the City to City segment of the festival.
Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Steve Ayorinde, and his counterpart in Tourism, Arts and Culture, Folorunsho Folarin-Coker, who briefed journalists alongside the Artistic Director Toronto Film Festival, Cameron Bailey, at the Bagauda Kaltho Press Centre in Alausa, said the development would help project tourism potential of Lagos to the audience at the festival.
Ayorinde said the move was in line with Governor Akinwumi Ambode’s campaign promises to make the state a hub for tourism.
He said the eight films to be selected does not necessarily have to be about Lagos, but films produced by directors based in the state.
According to him, “What is important is that the films that will be selected will be films by film makers that are Lagos based it won’t matter what subject matter you are dealing with, it is about the creativity the talent you are exhibiting as a Lagos based film maker that Toronto is interested in.”
Ayorinde said the state government would be fully involved in any collaboration to celebrate the city and market its potentials as well as appreciate the talent of the motion industry.
“What this government policy implies is that the government will promote any initiative that will project Lagos as the home of film making not only in Nigeria but before the entire world,” Ayorinde said.
Folarin-Coker on his part said the move falls in line with government’s policy that entertainment can be used to drive consumption to create employment and improve the revenue generation in the state.
“This falls clearly in line with Governor Ambode’s mantra of THESE which stands for Tourism, Hospitality, Entertainment, and Sports for Excellence,” Coker said.
He also revealed that the long term plan of the government is to take back dead public spaces such as under the bridges across the state and develop it for residents to exhibit and develop their talents.
The Toronto International Film Festival is the leading public film festival in the world, screening more than 300 films from more than 60 countries every September.
