KFCB signs five-year sponsorship deal with drama festival officials

The Kenya Film Classification Board will be the title sponsor of next year's edition of the National Drama and Film Festival. The annual event, the 60th, will be held in Kakamega County. It is usually held at the end of the first term.

Over the years, the drama festival has helped to discover and nurture talent across the country. It is the largest schools event in East and Central Africa.

"The engagement with Kenya Film and Classification Board is our biggest engagement in the history of drama festivals," said Mr James Indimuli, the executive secretary of the Kenya National Drama Festivals.

The KFCB will sponsor the drama teachers workshop, the adjudicators workshop, documentation, and the nurturing and exposing of talented students and teachers to international festivals.

They hope to create a pool of talented youths who will be guided to become great artists and to document the whole process. The KFCB chief executive Dr Ezekiel Mutua said they were out to create clean content through drama and film. He says the board would add value to the festival by identifying and nurturing talent beyond schools.

"Our desire is to ensure that this becomes a platform for nurturing the future stars in the creative industry," Dr Mutua said. "The festival is the best forum to promote national unity, cohesion as well as instil values to young people."

SPONSORSHIP

This partnership was formalised on May 7, 2018, when the Kenya National Drama Festival, under the Ministry of Education, wrote to KFCB, requesting it to be the title sponsor of next year's event. Dr Mutua then held talks with the festival's executive committee members led by executive secretary Mr James Indimuli, vice executive secretary Janet Langat, film coordinator Dr Symon Peter Otieno, who is also a senior lecture at the university of Nairobi, and senior officers from the Kenya Film and Classification Board.

"The board appreciated the gesture because the drama and film festivals offer KFCB a platform of direct interaction with its most treasured constituents — the children, teenagers and their caregivers in addition to the honour to determine the 2019 festival theme," Dr Mutua said.

"The board intends to use drama and film to inculcate moral values, teamwork, hard work, discipline and to fight corruption, among other things."

Indimuli said drama is one of the core co-curriculum activities in the ministry of Education.

The KFCB will sponsor the rewriting of the festival rules and regulations book and the trainers workshop at national level that will feature 400 drama teachers, KNDF committee members and facilitators.

The adjudicators training will be held on January with 300 adjudicators expected to attend.

The climax of the event will be the national drama festival that will last for 15 days, culminating with the best productions being staged at State House.

The KFCB will sponsor the event for five years.