Africa’s largest film festival kicks off in Burkina Faso

By SAM MEDNICK
Associated Press

OUAGADOUGOU, Burkina Faso (AP) — Africa’s largest film festival is kicking off in Burkina Faso for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic began. The week-long  Pan-African Film and TV Festival of Ouagadougou is also being held amid both the pandemic and a growing jihadi insurgency that’s killed thousands of people and displaced more than 1 million across the West African country. The head of the festival known by its French acronym FESPACO says organizers decided to go ahead with the event kicking off on Saturday as an act of resistance that shows Burkina Faso can still “inspire imagination through cinema.” The festival showcases works by African filmmakers and works produced on the continent.