Tawina Maluwa, a female journalism student at The Polytechnic, on Sunday triumphed in The Focus on Ability Short Film Festival Malawi held at Malawi Sun Hotel in Blantyre.
Maluwa won with her film titled Like Any Other Teacher which tells the story of a blind teacher, named Ferguson Kalumbi, who teaches at Makande Primary School in Chikwawa.
Maluwa was the only female filmmaker in the competition.
She won the hearts of a panel of judges in Australia, as well as the hearts of those who voted online.
As winner, Maluwa went away with $1,000.
“I feel so happy and encouraged to be the winner during this first ever festival,” Maluwa said.
She said she has passion for working with people with disabilities and that, when she heard about the contest, she thought it wise to take part in changing people’s mindset on how “we think about people with disabilities”.
Maluwa added:
“As a woman, I was encouraged to work on this movie because it was open to everyone and it was also one way of showing the nation that the country has female filmmakers who can do great things.”
She said that she will invest the money in filmmaking while part of the money will be shared with the person she features in the short film.
“The money will also help me to prepare for the next submission,” Maluwa said.
Focus on Ability Society (Foas) Executive Director and co-founder, MacDonald Nyirenda, said on Sunday the festival is implanted by Focus on Ability Society (Foas), a non-governmental organisation that was formed in 2016.
Nyirenda said the aim of the festival was to expose achievements of people with disabilities in Malawi.
He said that last year they partnered Nova Employment in Australia to establish a spotlight of the Focus on Ability Short Film Festival.
“This is an international competition, by Nova Employment, which asks filmmakers to submit short films showcasing abilities of people with disabilities around the world,” he said.
He said they were satisfied with the turn of events at the festival.
“The films shown were very good. Through the films, we have confirmed that disability is not inability. This is an annual event to show the abilities of people with disabilities,” Nyirenda said.
He then called on people to come together and give people with disabilities the platform to showcase their talent.
“I call upon parents who have children with disabilities to help them utilise their talents,” Nyirenda said.
Nyirenda said they were satisfied with the selection of the winner, describing Maluwa’s short film as good and telling a perfect story.
One of the people who submitted a movie, Valentino Moloseni, said people with disabilities have different talents and that it was important to tell their stories.
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