Pan African Federation of Filmmakers mobilizing funds for continent’s cinema sector
The film industry in Africa set for a major transformation with the injection of millions of funds to improve quality and quantity of productions in an effort to stimulate growth in film making across the continent.
The Pan African Federation of Filmmakers (FEPACI) is leading efforts in mobilizing $200 million (Ksh20 billion) over the next two years towards funding the continent’s audiovisual and cinema sector. The funding plan is one of the key planks of the Ambika Afrika Safari Film Festival (AASFF) to be held in Nairobi from October 12th to 19th 2016.
FEPACI principal advisor Ndiritu Muriithi said last week that revealed that the African Development Bank (AfDB) will also be investing $100 million in the development of the film industry across the continent to unlock its potential.
“The film industry in Africa can grow from US$5 billion (Ksh500 billion) to $20 billion (Ksh2 trillion) and in turn create 20 million jobs from the current 5 million while increasing revenues but this potential remains inert,” he added.
The funds will be put into establishing centres of excellence in the five regions – East Africa, North Africa, Central Africa, Southern Africa,West Africa. The location of the centres will be decided by the African Council of Ministers of Culture.
The festival – themed “The Africa We Want: One Africa, One Vision, One Destiny” – will have a series of events including film screenings, the Africa Film Finance Summit and the Africa Film Forum.
Top on the agenda, Mr Muriithi said, is the linking of film makers, finance and insurance industries to attract funding to the highly lucrative sector that is largely underfunded on the continent except in South Africa and Nigeria.
“The Film Finance Summit will be a platform for financial institutions, investors, entrepreneurs and filmmakers to learn from their experienced peers what it takes to finance the film sector,” he said.
The funding seeks to enhance the quality and quantity of films, documentaries and other forms of audiovisual productions and create market channels for the selling the films.
During the festival, top African feature films and documentaries that have won first prize at the Panafrican Film and Television Festival of Ouagadougou (FESPACO) will be screened. The festival will also source short films from Kenyatta University and the Kenya Institute of Mass Communication.
Mr Ernest Kerich, Director, Department of Film Services, Ministry of Sports Culture and the Arts, said the government together with other Member States have put in place strategies to grow the film sector through the African Audiovisual and Cinema Commission (AACC) established on June 17th this year as a specialized agency of the African Union to develop the film industry on the continent.
