Africa’s biggest film festival postponed by pandemic

Africa’s largest film festival, which was due to be held in Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso, from February 27 to March 6, has been postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The Pan-African Film and Television Festival of Ouagadougou, known by its acronym in French FESPACO, is a highly anticipated showcase that is held every two years.

On Friday, the Burkinabé cabinet “took the decision to postpone the holding of FESPACO to a later date,” government spokesman Ousseni Tamboura told a press conference.

Founded in 1969, FESPACO stipulates that the films selected for the competition must be directed by Africans and mainly produced in Africa.

His first prize is the coveted gold standard of Yennenga, a beast from Burkinabè mythology.

The internationally renowned festival is closely followed by the American and European film industries, who seek the event in search of new films, talent and ideas.

Burkina Faso, a landlocked country in the Sahel, has so far recorded 10,423 cases of Covid-19, including 120 fatalities, but like other countries in Africa, it is grappling with a worrying second wave of the virus.

“Given the health situation, both nationally and internationally, in relation to the coronavirus pandemic, it will be difficult to keep FESPACO on schedule,” Tamboura said.

“It will not be easy for us to decide (a new date) because it is linked to the evolution of the health situation,” he added.

The Cannes Film Festival in the south of France, considered by many to be the most prestigious in the world, has been postponed from May 11 to 22 until July 6 to 17, its organizers announced on Wednesday.

Cannes was canceled entirely last year for the first time since World War II, with just a small online presentation of its official selection in October.