International Gambian actor, writer, and producer Babou Ceesay, will stage the Khoros Short Film Festival in Banjul from November 23rd to 25th 2023.
The festival will be held at the Alliance Francaise and will feature screenings of African and French short films, kids screening and activities geared towards attracting and supporting emerging talents as well as pave way for advancement in the Gambian film industry.
The program will also be enriched by workshops on acting, directing, writing, pitching for funding, sound in cinema and a roundtable talk on the future of the Gambian film industry.
Babou Ceesay’s acting career spans 20 years. He has worked in theatre, TV, and film around the world. Previous projects include Hollywood productions such as The Best of Enemies, Into The Badlands and Eye In The Sky. He has also led many British TV shows and was nominated for a BAFTA for Leading Actor for his role in the BBC drama Damilola, Our Loved Boy.
Mr Ceesay returned to the Gambia in 2019 and founded the Khoros Film Foundation (KFF) in Gambia in 2022, providing international level training for Gambian talents.
The foundation has already run six training programmes and staged a theatre performance.
With support from Alliance Française de Banjul, Institut Français du Sénégal, Ambassade de France au Sénégal et en Gambie, and the U.S. Embassy in The Gambia, KFF’s latest initiative is the Khoros Short Film Festival.
Babou said: “My vision for Gambia is to have a functioning film industry. Where we make our own content to sell internationally – not just locally. I believe in generating employment for Gambians and enabling the creative community here to make a living doing what they love. I am blessed to say that I am able to do that, and I want to pass on that gift to my country. Thanks to all our partners, this dream is one step closer.”
The Khoros Film Foundation (KFF) is a non-profit organisation that delivers capacity building programmes in filmmaking in The Gambia.
It envisioned to create a sustainable film industry in the country by provide filmmakers with a high-quality learning experience grounded in current global industry practices. Since inception the foundation run series of courses and workshops covering acting, screenwriting, film production and cinematography.
