The date for the 19th edition of Ecrans Noirs(Black Screens) festival has been decided and the Mauritanian, Abderrahmane Sissako’s ‘Timbuktu’ film will open this year’s Ecrans Noirs festival.

During a press conference in Yaoundé, Bassek ba Kobhio, general delegate of the festival, and his team unveiled the official selection of movies and programs. The big news was the opening film projection phenomenon, ‘Timbuktu’, of Abderrahmane Sissako. The Mauritanian filmmaker returns to Cameroon 18 years later with his seven Césars film event which also awarded many at the recent Fespaco event in Ouagadougou.

Even though the public were informed on July 18 opening, details on the closing date on July 25 were not disclosed. However, ‘L’amour en bonus’, by the Ivorian, Jacques Trabi, is the film that will end this edition.

In spite of the jihadists’ attack, representatives proceeded to launch the 2015 event with the theme: ‘Digital and training requirement.’

The official selection was disclosed to no one. The Cameroonian cinema is however proud of its achievements with its own competitions and awards including the Cameroonian film company. According to Bassek Kobhio ba, "since entry is now charged, 10% of the revenue will be donated to the director or producer of the film projected in Cameroon". There are a total of 25 feature films, 19 documentaries and 38 short films for the international and local category.

The emcee for the event is Tunisian actress, Sana Ezzine. The 20 members of the four juries were presented. This year’s special event will have musicians like Grace Decca and Sanzy Viany as part of the juries. The chairs are renowned people. They are: Ambroise Mbia, for international feature films; Idrissa Ouedraogo (Burkina Faso), for feature films in Cameroon; Rasmane Ouedraogo (Burkina Faso), for international short films and documentaries; and finally Claudia Yoka (Congo Brazzaville), for documentaries and short films in Cameroon.