Africa film body to shape our narrative

Kenya’s Cabinet Secretary for Sports, culture and the Arts, Dr Hassan Wario. PHOTO | FILE |

What you need to know:

  • Last year, a filmmakers’ workshop in Nairobi emphasised the need for African films telling the African story. Addressing the workshop, Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohammed decried the erosion of diverse Kenyan cultures by Western cultures riding on foreign films.
  • She said there was need to build Africa’s own capacity in film and television productions.
  • Industry observers welcomed the AACC establishment with great optimism for the movie screens in Africa.

Kenya’s quest for a continental film body came to fruition this week when African ministers created an audiovisual and cinema commission to promote the film industry in Africa and take charge of the emergent “Africa Rising” narrative.

Meeting on Thursday at the African Union headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, the Ministers of Culture, Youth and Sports from member countries established the African Audiovisual and Cinema Commission (AACC) as a specialised agency of the African Union.

This was the culmination of an initiative mooted by the AU Executive Council in Maputo, Mozambique, in 2003 and spearheaded by the Kenya government, the Pan African Federation of Filmmakers (FEPACI), the African Union Commission and leading film producing countries including Benin, Burkina Faso, Cote d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ghana, Mali, Nigeria and Zimbabwe, among others.

Writing in the Saturday Nation in April this year, Kenya’s Cabinet Secretary for Sports, culture and the Arts, Dr Hassan Wario, said, the government — in conjunction with FEPACI and the African Union Commission (AUC) — has supported the undertaking of preliminary studies, stakeholder consultations and the drafting of the necessary statutes. “My ministry has established the National Film School to spur professionalism in the local film industry,” he said.

The AACC is expected t mobilise funds in the continent to build a robust audiovisual and cinema industry capable of projecting a positive image of Africa as well as aid attainment of Agenda 2063 as a good base for the export of African film products and services to international audiences and customers.

“Agenda 2063” is an AU vision (dubbed the Africa We Want) that seeks to achieve a positive socioeconomic transformation by the year 2063.

Last year, a filmmakers’ workshop in Nairobi emphasised the need for African films telling the African story. Addressing the workshop, Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohammed decried the erosion of diverse Kenyan cultures by Western cultures riding on foreign films.

She said there was need to build Africa’s own capacity in film and television productions.

Industry observers welcomed the AACC establishment with great optimism for the movie screens in Africa.

Cultural analyst Dr Joyce Nyairo termed it a significant endorsement of the film in contemporary African Africa. Dr Nyairo added that this should act as cornerstone of Africa’s cultural diplomacy and promote peace and understanding among African countries. She hopes that AACC will help secure substantial funding especially for the documentary film that is key to disseminating African stories.