Namibia film students' Wales stay after competition win

Darryn February (l) and Felicia Mutonga (r) meet Cardiff film director Karl Francis

Two students from Namibia have begun a film residency in Wales after winning a short film competition.

Felicia Mutonga, 23, and Darryn February, 24, won a University of Namibia competition with short films about youth culture and multilingualism.

They will get mentoring and help in Cardiff to establish links with the film sector in Wales.

Ms Mutonga said: "This experience will play a big part in shaping my future."

• Witch camp film is festival highlight

• Make more films about Wales, says Ifans

The residency, which will run until Wednesday, was developed through a partnership between the Watch Africa Film Festival, the University of Namibia and Cardiff University's The Phoenix Project.

Loredana Polezzi, professor of translation studies at Cardiff University, said: "The residency encompasses a range of activities designed to teach several essential elements of narrative filmmaking as well as exploring and documenting the dynamic relationship between minority and mainstream languages both in Namibia and in the UK."

Ms Mutonga added: "Hopefully I can use it to contribute towards the growth of the industry in Namibia and one day I can return to Wales with a full-length feature film as part of the Watch Africa Festival."

As part of the residency, the pair's short films were screened at Cardiff's Chapter Arts Centre on Sunday.

Fadhili Maghiya, Watch Africa: Wales Africa Film Festival coordinator, said it was the festival's vision to "support African filmmakers through screenings, development support and developing connections".

"We hope this is the beginning of more opportunities to come for Namibian filmmakers," he added.