Accra (Greater Accra) 8 July 2003 - The Ministry of Information is finalising a Film Development and Classification Bill to streamline film development in the country.
The National Film Board, to be established under the Act, would be adequately empowered to institutionalise and enforce the culture of quality, priority and decency in the distribution, sale and exhibition of films and videos in the country.
Kofi Sakyiamah, Chief Director, Ministry of Information, was speaking at the opening of the Sixth Major Students Film and Television Festival "ANIWA Africa" 2003, on Monday.
The festival under the theme: "Liberating the Mind", is to promote and encourage quality training in film and television production in Africa.
Over 50 participants from the African Region and Germany are attending the two-week event that would also focus on the role of film and television as instruments for change in African societies.
Sakyiamah said the country lacked the relevant laws or regulations to streamline the production and sale of quality films and this was negatively affecting the socio-cultural aspect of development in the country.
"There was, therefore, the need to critically review African cinema to make it more competitive," he said. Sakyiamah said the poor quality and contents of films being shown on both the national television and theatres were having negative effects on the youth and were damaging the cultural fabric of the society.
"Our productions lack pure African touch and are full of borrowed ideas from western films and set-ups ", he said. He stated that the Board would, therefore, capture the policy direction of the development of the film industry, which included the evolving a dynamic, economically self-sustaining and culturally conscious film industry.
"This would promote the use of film for national integration, cohesion and mobilisation for the projection of the country's image abroad", he said.
Sakyiamah further said the Bill would also include a film fund to ensure the swift running of the industry. He said the African continent needed a new breed of film and television professionals imbued with the requisite knowledge and skills to prosecute effectively and efficiently the communication agenda in each country with a sense of Africans.
He further said the festival should focus on areas of technical co-operation, programme exchanges and exchange of ideas and expertise with the view of promoting the eventual socio-economic and political integration of the Sub-Regional Blocs, as essential impetus to the Africa Union.
He urged film professionals to take advantage of the
workshop and NAFTI's facilities to ensure a vibrant
film industry in
GRi…/
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Martin Loh, Director of the
National Film and Television Institute (NAFTI), said Film in
Loh, who was speaking at the opening of the two-week festival called on
film and television professionals to take advantage of the facilities provided
by the institute to enhance their skills. The Festival on the theme:
"Liberating the Mind", is aimed at promoting and encouraging quality
training in film and television in
It is also aimed at training both students and teachers at
a workshop so that they could replicate their skills and ideas to others in
their various institutes.
The festival that is co-sponsored by NAFTI and Deutche Welle, Berlin is expected
to host about 50 participants from Namibia, The Gambia, Nigeria, South is
Africa, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Kenya, Zimbabwe Ghana and Germany.
Loh said the institute had been striving over the past years to train and
enhance skills of film and television professionals to ensure quality African
productions. "We want to research deep into African cinema to see what has
been going wrong and what should be done to add quality to our
productions", he said.
He stated that NAFTI has managed to set up a research
centre where data and other important materials and documents have been
collected and stored to help professionals make inform decisions.
"The centre would also be used for a distance
education programme where both local and foreign nationals could learn from
each others culture", he added. Loh further
explained that management was working hard to get Internet links to ensure the
success of the distant education programme.
He said the first week of the festival would be devoted to
a workshop that would focus mainly on the New media,
including digital animation and Post-production while the second week would
analyse productions of students and how to screen films.
Kofi Sakyiamah, Chief Director,
Ministry of Information, said the poor quality and contents of films being
shown on both national television and theatres was having such negative effect
on the youth and was damaging the cultural fabric of the society.
He said a Film Development and Classification Bill would
soon come out to promote film development in the country. The National Film
Board, to be established under the Act, would be adequately empowered to
institutionalise and enforce the culture of quality, priority and decency in
the distribution, sale and exhibition of films and videos in the country, he
said.
Sakyiamah stated that the Board captures the policy direction of the
development of the film industry, which includes the evolving of a dynamic,
economically self-sustaining and culturally conscious film industry.
"This would promote the use of film for national
integration, cohesion and mobilisation for the projection of the country's
image abroad", he added. He further said the draft bill would also include
a film fund to ensure the swift running of the industry.
He urged film professionals to take advantage of the
workshop and NAFTI's facilitation to ensure a vibrant
film industry in
GRi…/
Send your comments to viewpoint@ghanareview.com