Since its foundation in 2006, ÉCU- The European Independent Film Festival– has dedicated almost two decades to giving countenance to independent filmmakers who are seeking a platform to showcase their work. Through the years, ÉCU has proven to be a prominent festival that has gone further from Europe to expand its field to the Asia-Pacific Region, Africa, and the Americas. Apart from this, the festival has also created an intellectual community aiming to nourish the spirit of independent filmmaking.

To accomplish this objective, ÉCU has been hosting numerous events to congregate intellectuals from all around the world. One of these gatherings is “Launch Parties” which has become a tradition of ÉCU for the celebration of the announcement of the Official Selection and officially starting date for the countdown to the festival.

   In this publication, it is a pleasure to share some insights about the Launch Party which was on 21^st of August. This time round,  the Launch Party became a platform for All African Independent Film Festivals ( AAIFF)  which has been established to showcase  the very best independent filmmakers from across Africa and to promote their cinematic talents on a global stage. 

For the opening of the party, Rodrigo Estrada Bedwell who is the festival  manager of the ÉCU, provided invaluable insights regarding the All-African Independent Film Festivals. The essential aims of his speech were raising the awareness and drawing attention to the independent filmmaking in a Africa, thus, in turn, the African film industry will be able to accomplish to gain more recognition from all around the world. 

In the Launch Party, we had got a chance to watch the documentary named “ I Won’t Kneel” by Hilda Awori. The documentary explores how the girl-child and boy-child are raised in African societies which is attributed to patriarchy and ın back of patriarchy, the documentary also expresses the perspective of the cultural practices whcih women and girls were kneeling down while greeting other members of the society in Eastern Uganda.

Afterwards, as ÉCU family and cinema lovers, we had a wonderful time during the Launch Party!  With this tradition, we have a chance to gather around an intellectual community who is passionate about the independent cinema, to share insights and discuss about the independent cinema all over the world.

In this edition, we wanted to share our enthusiasm with you! To get more information about ÉCU, visit the official website: https://ecufilmfestival.com. Stay tuned!