New Pan-African alliance joins CISAC’s audiovisual creators’ council congress, announcing new President
CISAC’s creators’ council for the audiovisual sector, Writers & Directors Worldwide, and the Pan-African Alliance of Screenwriters and Directors (APASER) have come together to collaborate in the fight for stronger rights for screenwriters and directors.
The newly-created African organisation joined the council’s congress in Venice on November 15th, announcing its first president, the Madagascan film director, Laza.
APASER is now the African regional alliance partner of Writers & Directors Worldwide, having been launched in September at CISAC’s African Creators’ Encounter event in Algiers.
A graduate of La Fémis, the French state film school based in Paris, Laza is also the founder and director of the Madagascan Short Film Festival (RFC) which has organised Pan-African short film competitions, workshops, meetings and international exchanges since its inception in 2006. He is also a former recipient of the “Ordre des Arts et des Lettres”, the cultural award made in recognition of significant contributions to the arts and literature.
APASER has also elected an executive committee, comprising:
- Mohamed Saïd Ouma – Film director and screenwriter, Comoros
- Angèle Diabang – Film director, Senegal
- Saïd Ould Khelifa – Film director and screenwriter, Algeria
- Nelson Maquile – Film director and screenwriter, Mozambique
- Maria Sarungi – Film director, Tanzania
- Yves Nilly – Screenwriter and author, France (advisory counselor)
The inclusion of Writers & Directors Worldwide’s Vice President Yves Nilly, who was instrumental in helping set up APASER through discussions earlier this year with the Pan-African Filmmakers' Federation (FEPACI), will help the organisation expand its activities and build international relationships.
APASER will enable Writers & Directors Worldwide and FEPACI to leverage each other’s networks to engage African audiovisual authors in the fight for their rights.