University of Bamenda: Atufung Ngebenui defends first-ever PhD from performing, visual arts department.

The defence jury was made up of Prof Victor Ngu Cheo as the chairperson, Prof Paul Animbom as the rapporteur, Prof Emelda Ngufor Samba as first examiner, Prof Muluh Henry as second examiner and Prof Kelvin Ngong Toh as a member.

Atufung Ngebenui Sheila's research focused on: "Film as a tool for conflict transformation and peacebuilding: A reading of Darrell Roodts Sarafina and Edward Zwicks Blood Diamond".

She told the jury that film has contributed a lot to the conflicts and so filmmakers should produce films that will be geared towards conflict transformation and not conflict escalation.

In her research findings, Atufung Ngebenui stated that the examination of films revealed the central themes of societal injustice, resilience, and the transformational power of individuals’ actions in the face of hardship. 

From focus group conversations, she said had with audience members who had participated in armed conflicts, it was discovered that films contributed to violence in war zones because the audience identified with the archetypal groups shown in the movie.

Speaking to the press after the defence, Atufung revealed that she was inspired to research on the topic because of the current conflict in the North West and South West Regions. 

She noted that if filmmakers can produce movies that people can sit and watch at their leisure time, it will go a long way to show the transformative power that movies have.

"...there are so many movies out there that have gone a long way to destroy the society rather than to construct it. My research is out to provide a guideline that filmmakers can use to produce films that will be geared towards conflict transformation and not conflict escalation," she said.

Contribution to peacebuilding 

Atufung explained that her research has contributed to peacebuilding in that peace activists can use the thesis to go a long way to use film as a tool for conflict resolution, dialogue and reconciliation. 

"Looking at my methodology, I worked with civil society stakeholders which is to say that film has a place out there and people are looking up to filmmakers to produce films that can actually be used for peace building. And so, they should produce films in a way that it will not be harmful to the society," she said.

She further revealed that the main limitation she had was accessing the population. "...I had to brave the odds by going to Bafut to talk with ex-fighters at the Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration, DDR, centre was not easy, but I finally found myself there and got what I wanted," Atufung explained.

Meanwhile, Atufung Ngebenui Sheila's supervisor, who doubles as the Head of Department for Performing and Visual Arts, Prof Paul Animbom, said he is quite elated, honoured and fulfilled to see his pioneer student haven't defended her PhD thesis after going through a long and tedious journey.

"When I started the department in 2015, with the very first badge, Atufung Sheila was one of the first students whom we admitted into the department. Little could I known that on a day like these nine years afterward, she will be defending a PhD thesis," he said.

Prof Animbom further revealed that film is just part of the curriculum that is offered in the department and the faculty at large. He added that Atufung Sheila is proposing complementary procedures that can be used in conflict transformation. 

"If this particular method of looking at film not only as something that come to trigger conflicts in people, but as a tool that can be effectively integrated in conflict transformation procedure in Cameroon by the policy-makers, I think it is going to go a long way to give a platform to filmmakers to express themselves more in a constructive manner towards the crisis that we are in," he explained.

He reinterred that the notion of conflict transformation and peacebuilding goes beyond the application of just films, and so there are other methods that can be used in conflict transformation and peacebuilding.

This article was first published in The Guardian Post Edition No:3317 of Wednesday December 11, 2024