The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization UNESCO Has celebrated African cinema with the publication of a report titled “African Film Industry: Growth Trends, Challenges and Opportunities”.
The publication is designed to help the film industry and decision makers understand the current situation and strategically plan for future growth.
The launch of the report, which held between October 5 and 7, was part of the line-up of events to contribute to the celebration of 2021 as UNESCO’s Year of Arts, Culture and Heritage (2021) and the International Year of Creative Economy for Sustainable Development.
On October 5, three roundtables focused on filmmaking, investment and institutional support in Africa. The debate brought together government and industry-leading representatives.
And later the same day, UNESCO hosted an African film screening cycle until October 7th.
UNESCO’s actions are in favor of a dynamic creative economy, including the film industry, which are in turn in line with the policy framework supported by the 2005 UNESCO Convention on the Protection and Promotion of Cultural Expression Diversity and the 1980 Recommendation on Artist Status.
The epoch-making event had UNESCO Executive Secretary Audrey Azley along with prominent filmmakers like Abderrahmane Sisaco and Mati Diop in attendance.
The report noted that the sector currently employs an estimated 5 million people and accounts for $ 5 billion in Africa’s total Gross Domestic Product, GDP.
The publication contains strategic recommendations to help the sector achieve the estimated potential of creating more than 20 million jobs and contributing $20 billion to total continental GDP.
The report argues that this possibility remains largely unexplored, even though production has increased significantly across the continent, for example Nigeria producing about 2,500 films a year.
Affordable digital film equipment and a new online platform that enables direct delivery to consumers have created a new economy for content creators, but the report shows that Africa has only one movie screen per 787,402 people highlighting a huge vacuum in theaters.
Illegal copying is another important issue for the industry and accurate data is not available, but the report estimates that illegal copying accounts for 50% to over 75% of the revenue in the film and audiovisual industry. The report further highlights the fact that only 19 of 54 African countries (35%) provide financial support to filmmakers.
The study also identifies freedom of expression as it reports perpetual challenges affecting the industry, especially the limits of what industry experts in 47 countries can handle in their creative work. Education, training and internet connectivity are also affecting the African film and audiovisual industry.
