The National Film Authority is organizing the second edition of the Africa Cinema Summit from the 7-10 October, 2024 which seeks to bring together African media and movie industry professionals, policymakers and relevant stakeholders to brainstorm on the emerging concepts of movie making across the globe and how creatives on the continent can tap into the transformative effect of film making on economies of top movie producing countries globally.
The well attended event which is being hosted in Accra in partnership with the NAL Group and SilverBird Cinemas Africa with support from the Ministry of Tourism , Arts and Culture is also to foster partnerships and exhibit ideas from film makers , producers and global agencies like UNESCO and other finance houses to leverage on the beautiful and unique stories and culture of the African continent to produce compelling content which drives global eyeballs as well as foreign investment to spur development in general.
The theme of this year’s Summit is on ” Cinema Relevant In African Communities “, with renowned African-American actor , Idris Elba headlining the event as the Special Guest of Honour alongside former Netflix top Executive, Fiona Lamptey , Minister for the Sector, Hon. Andrew Egyapa Mercer as well as the distinguished patronage of the Ga Mantse, HRH King Nii Tackie Teiko Tsuru II in attendance.
Speaking at the event, Minister of Tourism , Arts and Culture, Hon. Andrew Egyapa Mercer intimated that the main aim of the summit ties into the overall aim and plan of the Ministry to create a platform to reiterate the significant role movies and African story telling plays in shaping united communities and preserving time tested traditions which has kept several generations of Africans proud of their heritage in the comity of nations.
He added that despite being a form of entertainment in general terms, African movies have served as a means of keeping thousands of creatives employed and a source of livelihood to several hundreds of homes whose breadwinners showcase their talents time and again on our screens through cohesive and compelling storytelling to achieve profound impacts, and as such African governments must reinvent the wheels of providing sound economic structures for the budding movie industry to thrive .
” I am really elated as the Minister for Tourism, Arts and Culture to be engaging this year’s summit which has brought together several respected and globally acclaimed stakeholders in African cinema and industry under one roof to brainstorm on how to retell and focus more compelling stories on our unique identity as Africans to the world through creative and compelling stories produced by our very own citizens in the industry , which makes it great to see original customs and practices being instilled in several generations on the continent over the years whilst putting decent incomes on the tables of key actors in the space.
We as policy makers and governments must endeavour to get around the table with the various players in this very important sector of our economies and develop policies and programmes which facilitates more well crafted stories which create positive impressions and drive social change in many communities through documentaries and feature films always mainstreams major developmental challenges to governmental level , in the coming years with movies providing thousands of jobs and lessening pressure on countries particularly youth employment ,we need to bridge funding gaps to producers in order to stay in business and drive tourism to our respective nations”.
Also, Hon Andrew Egyapa Mercer added that it is now of grave importance to clamour and advocate for more African films to be showcased on major distribution platforms like Youtube, Netflix ,ShowMaxx through private public partnership at the highest levels of international diplomacy in order to get more global eyeballs on the true and proper perspectives of the African story whilst generate sustainable income for all key players in the industry.
He revealed that by supporting African film makers through sound economic policies and leveraging on entities like the African Development Bank and UNESCO, such global viewing audiences if well processed can translate into huge tourism inflows into countries and propel economic growth on the continent using Ghana’s Year of Return programme in 2019 which yielded a little over $3bn dollars into the economy across board.
” With the ever digitizing world and competitive nature of content globally , it now behoves on stakeholders in the movie industry and private partners supported by sound government policies to develop appropriate infrastructure and production houses to improve the quality of story telling as well as leveraging on working partnerships from development agencies to get more impact on the diverse audience of the world which translates into massive economic fortunes for all both physically and economically.
It is the goal of the President of Ghana, H.E Nana Addo Danquah Akuffo Addo and my ministry to invest in the next generation of Ghanaian movie and cinema professionals who can rub shoulders with their global contenmporaries and drive investment into the space by making Ghana, the movie production hub on the continent with the attendant economic inflows and its ripple economic effects on the country and puts our country on the map through the flagship policy developed by the NFA ,ourseleves at the Ministry and other actors with the “ShootInGhana” agenda which will be submitted to Cabinet soon for full implementation across the board”.
Furthermore, the Head of Culture at UNESCO Ghana, Mr Carl Ampah added that theme of the summit ties into the overarching aim of the UN body which seeks to preserve all traditions and cultures across the globe and culture is a public good which transcends borders and spurs fellow feelings across countries on different continents as well.
He stated that film is a distinct product which instills social change and inspires pride and cultural continuity and serves as a vehicle to protect the sanctity particularly on the African continent must be treasured in all its forms with the potential not only for social impacts but also creates close 20 million jobs if the full potential of the cinema industry in Africa is harnessed.
” Films generally depict societal circumstances and change in all sectors of countries and Africa as a multi culturally diverse continent with original and time tested traditions must invest in producing mindblowing narratives to the global audience and using such positive outcomes to propel development , UNESCO as the world’s biggest organization on social development and culture stands with Africa governments on this walk ,which a , UNESCO funded project revealed has the potential to create 20 million jobs with Nigeria alone produces 2500 movies per year.
We will continue to partner both government and non governmental actors in the continent’s cinema industry to get funding partnerships and training to get Africans to get world class training in film making and associated technical expertise in all forms which will translate into fully formalizing the structures in the industry to fit global demands whilst not forgetting to also use local languages to keep domestic markets as well involved in both the tangible and intangible benefits of culture and traditions of African heritage”.
