FESPACO Festival Awarded in Algeria

The International Miriam Makeba Prize for Artistic Creativity was awarded on November 30th.

The Panafrican Film and Television Festival of Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso) received the “International” Miriam Makeba Prize for Artistic Creativity “on November 30 in Algiers. This event receives recognition for its endurance despite financial crises. The Fespaco has been in effect since 1979. From February 23 to March 2, 2019, it will celebrate its 50th anniversary and will be at its 26th edition.

The jury, chaired by the Egyptian Mohamed Salamaoui, presented at a ceremony in the auditorium of the Moufdi- Zakaria Palace of Culture, in Algeria, a monetary reward worth $ 80,000 to the Fespaco, for its ” contribution to the promotion of cinema and African culture “.

The award was created to recognize African artists and creators of musical, cinematographic, literary and other works. It aims to enable African artists using different media to express their ideas and express themselves on socio-political issues to be better heard, to promote African artists and art in all its forms of expression, to encourage talent and creativity, rewarding the best artistic creation. For this first edition, the jury of the international prize “Miriam Makeba for artistic creativity” has focused its interest on an entity and not on an individual.

Miriam Makeba is a South African artist who has had a significant socio-political influence in her country. It has benefited from its worldwide notoriety to contribute to the fight against apartheid. Miriam Makeba died on November 9, 2008, at the age of 76.