The Nigerian Film Corporation (NFC) says it has begun implementing recent directives from the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, to reposition the film industry.
The Minister had in January charged the NFC to become the hub for capacity building, entrepreneurship and archive of all Nigerian films. He also asked the corporation to promote activities that will make Nigeria the centre of film festivals and markets in Africa.
NFC’s Head of Public Affairs, Brian Etuk, disclosed in a statement that “the directive has led to the activation of processes that will lead to the accelerated transformation of the film industry into a robust creative economy.”
It stated that it would in a matter of months increase training workshops for players in the motion picture industry and vastly improve SHOOT!, its flagship professional training program.
The National Film Institute (NFI), will also continue to innovate, especially with the recently introduced Master’s programme in Film Culture and Archival Studies.
Cities including Asaba, Lagos, Ilorin, Kaduna, Kano, Bauchi, Umuahia and Jos would also serve as hosts for direct and impactful skills and entrepreneurial training for youths. “The hubs will be centres of full film production activities, with a positive impact on employment generation and wealth creation,” it said.
The NFC added that the National Film Video & Sound Archive, recently upgraded with support from the German government, is ready to receive copies of all movies, music, sound and film posters.
“All such deposits will be protected under existing copyright and exhibition laws of the country. In cases of deteriorated motion pictures, the NFVSA will, with the consent of the depositor, undertake restoration and digitization,” it assured.
In making Nigeria the hub of film festivals and markets in Africa, the NFC will affirm that it would continue to hold the ZUMA Film Festival annually.
It would also introduce the National Travelling Film Festival, otherwise known as the Nigerian National Film Festival, to be hosted annually by states.
“The biennial Anglophone Film Festival between Nigeria and Ghana will be pursued further. Other film festivals to be mounted by NFC annually include the Berlin- Lagos Archival Film Festival and International Student Film Festival at the National Film Institute (NFI) Jos,” it concluded.