Niamey – Making an award-winning film in Niger, one of the world’s poorest and most remote countries, is difficult. Making one in less than 48 hours, is really challenging. 

Yet those were the parameters this past Sunday (8/12) when the International Organization for Migration (IOM) launched here its second edition of the short film competition “48H Plus Tard,” organized as part of IOM’s Global Migration Film Festival, supported by the European Union, under the  Migrant Resource and Response Mechanism.   

The idea is to make a short film in under 48 hours, between 2 and 5 minutes, following certain organizer guidelines. The contest was free and open to everyone. 

“Uniquely placed to tell stories on migration, the goal of these trainings was to strengthen the migrants’ voices and to let them work on their own stories with the support of film professionals,” said Barbara Rijks, IOM’s Chief of Mission in Niger. Fifteen teams took the challenge, including teams made of film students and professional filmmakers. The shorts could be filmed and edited with the equipment of their choice. 

Some 48 hours later, 12 teams made it to the finish line with their short films, which were projected before an audience of over 200 people at the Centre Culturel-Franco Nigérien Jean Rouch (CCFN) in Niamey. 

Nigerien filmmaker Nicolas Houndadika and his team CCNC came in second during last year’s edition, but they came back in full force this year and took home the first prize. “We are incredibly honored and humbled to have won tonight. We gave it everything we had, and we are grateful it hasn’t gone unnoticed,” Nicolas said. “It’s not easy being a filmmaker in Niger, but perseverance pays off.” 

Nicolas’ team chose “despair” as the sub-theme of their film “Le désespoir de Moubarake.” The story is about a young boy telling his brother’s story as he is drawing. His family had risked everything so one older brother could travel, but the younger one fears he won’t make it alive. He wishes that his older brother doesn’t find a spot on a boat from Libya to Europe so he could come back home to his family. 

Within the context of the festival, local talent hub Magic Art Multimedia organized three consecutive one-week workshops for the migrants staying at IOM’s three transit centres in Niamey. The first workshop was in scriptwriting, followed by acting, and filming and editing.  

English: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hyKkSgsgrCA&feature=youtu.be 

French: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lXVakiznB90&feature=youtu.be 

For more information, please contact Monica Chiriac at IOM Niger, Tel: +227 8931 8764, Email: mchiriac@iom.int.