Film making has, to some degree, been a form of soliloquy in Africa as players in the industry largely been working in isolation on a bare stage the size of Africa.
Of course, it is always good to keep the creative industry away from politically-oriented people and institutions so as to ensure that their pretty little lives remain unsullied by the unnecessary demands of politicians and political institutions.
There is one problem with this arrangement, though. If we ignore the fact that history is littered with cases of governments meddling in the affairs of the creative industry through, for example, censorship, we discover that lack of unitary policies has been the recipe for poor coordination of efforts.
Without the blessings of the African Union, cinema in Africa has hardly resembled the tableau of simple artistic bliss it was supposed to be as, among other things, lack of finances has led to compromised quality of film products.
But this state of poor coordination is about to come to an end, if the June 23 2016 establishment of the African Audiovisual and Cinema Commission (AACC) is a step in the right direction.
There is still work to be done. For example, the statutes of the newly established specialised agency are set to be discussed by an extraordinary meeting of Culture sub-Committee of African Ministers slated for September 2016. After next month’s meeting, ministers of Legal Affairs and Justice would then discuss the issue in October 2016.
This notwithstanding, the Film Association of Malawi (Fama) has started banking on the initiative.
Fama vice president, Joyce Mhango Chavula, said in an interview that AACC’s establishment may work to the advantage of countries that lag behind as countries such as Nigeria and Ghana take giant leaps forward.
“I got hold of the AACC document through some folks in Zimbabwe…. [It] sounds promising and [sounds like] quite a great initiative, especially for developing industries like ours,” said Chavula.
Chavula said filmmakers could hope for good times ahead, so long as due attention was paid to countries whose industries are yet to rich full flower.
“When I read the document, the first thing that came to mind was hope; [hope that] this could be the beginning of a great film industry in Malawi. We have an advantage over countries like Nigeria, Ghana.
“Their industries are already established whilst, for countries like Zambia, Malawi, we are still trying to find our voice in the sector. So maybe, just maybe, necessary attention will be put on countries that are not so developed [to] push them to be at par with the other African countries,” said Chavula.
However, Chavula observed that industry players would not change things on their own. Everything, as is often the case, rests on the broad shoulders of the government.
“I am not sure if our government— especially the Ministry of Culture and Ministry of Information— has the muscle to, and really, take advantage of this,” she observed.
On June 23 this year, ministers of Culture, Youth and Sports in African Union member States established the long awaited African and Cinema Commission as a specialised agency of the African Union.
A statement from the AACC indicated in June that establishment of the commission came after the Republic of Kenya joined hands with institutions such as the Pan African Federation of Filmmakers, e African Union Commission and leading film producing countries including Benin, Burkina Faso, Cote D’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ghana, Mali, Nigeria and Zimbabwe.
However, the establishment of the commission can be said to have come too late, as establishment of AACC was first called for by the EU Executive Council in Maputo, Mozambique, in 2003.
According to AACC executive director, Jane Murago-Munene, the audiovisual and cinema industry accounts for $5 billion in continental Gross Domestic Product, in the process employing an estimated 5 million people.
“With the current push for its development, this industry is expected to grow to over 20 million jobs and $20 billion in annual GDP contribution,” indicated Murago-Munene.
The AACC is part of a 5 programme ecosystem that is mobilising $410 million in programme funds for the promotion of the industry during the next five years.
However, as if running away from responsibility,, African governments have started pushing the responsibility on the private sector.
“These resources will be raised from both the private and public sector and will be implemented primarily by the private sector,” the statement reads in part.
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