NFA launches second edition of Africa Cinema Summit to be held in October

The National Film Authority (NFA) has launched the second edition African Cinema Summit in Accra with a call on players in the movie industry to invest in cinemas.

This year’s Africa Cinema Summit (ACS) will take place from Monday, October 7- 10 on the theme, “Is Cinema relevant in African communities?”

The maiden edition of ACS was held in November last year within the broader agenda and objectives of NFA to highlight opportunities for cinema growth and the required roles of players in the sector.

It provided the potent platform for stakeholders in the industry value chain across the world to discuss challenges and explore potential and opportunities in the African cinema space.

Speaking at the launch held at the Accra Tourist Information Centre last week, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of NFA and convener of the summit, Juliet Yaa Asantewaa Asante, expressed her disappointment at how the cinema sector hasn’t been fully exploited.

Investment

She mentioned that despite Africa’s population of almost 1.5 billion, the continent couldn’t boast of a vibrant cinema culture due to the lack of cinemas and screens. 

Using figures to build her case, Madam Asante said with a population of 64 million, France had over 6,000 cinemas while Africa Africa was wallowing in less than 1,700 with its huge population.

She pointed out that the figures showed a gap in the movie sector, particularly with the potential of making great returns investing in cinemas. 

 “For me whenever I see a gap, I see opportunity. And so this is a big gap and sometimes even when I speak to my fellow film makers I say if you are in one side of the business it doesn’t mean you cannot go to the other side.

“If doesn’t mean that if you are an actor you cannot put up a screen and start something,” she said.

Impact

In his address the Board Chairman of the National Film Authority, David Dontoh, emphasized the positive waves of the summit.

“African Cinema Summit is something that has come to document our history, our culture KD everything about us so that when we are not around, the seed we are sowing today will germinate for succeeding generations to come to know and understand that there lived in this country some people who took particular interest in the development of the industry,” he noted.

He noted that the board was happy to be associated with ACS since it had the potential of trumpeting to the world what Africa has in terms of film production. 

The Deputy Minister of Tourism Arts and Culture, Mark Okraku Mantey also announced that the government has started a process of initiating tax waivers for film makers in Ghana.

He encouraged stakeholders in the movie industry to have a united voice on the tax waiver and not leave that mandate only for the NFA to do. 

Last year, the inaugural Africa Cinema Summit convened representatives from 20 African countries. The event facilitated critical discussions on the cinema landscape in Africa, focusing on exploring and tailoring opportunities to suit the unique characteristics of each geographic location across the continent.

Hence, this year’s edition aims to further consolidate the progress made in the African cinema industry, fostering collaboration, innovation and sustainable growth

 The 2024 summit will focus on ‘Growth in quality of local content production and consumption driving the case for increased cinema investment.

In addition to the theme and date announcement, the NFA also named their executive steering committee consisting of executives from the global cinema, content and creative communities who will spearhead the summit alongside the NFA.

They included Moses Babatope, Co-founder and former Group Managing Director, Filmhouse Group, Rob Arthur, Founder and partner, Entertainment Solutions, Tim Yaw Struthers, Senior Advisor, Global Engagement, Ojoma Ochai, Managing Director, Co-creation Hub (CcHUB) Africa, Funmi Onuma, Country Manager, Silverbird Cinemas.

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