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FEPACI issues statement on FRU situation
Thu, 07 Jun 2007
The secretariat of the Pan African Federation of Filmmakers (FEPACI) has taken a serious stance on the possible demise of the Film Resource Unit (FRU). Here we quote the statement as issued by FEPACI.
Dear, FEPACI members, friends and colleagues
The Secretariat of the Pan African Federation of Film-makers (FEPACI) has been made aware of the possible liquidation and closure of the Film Resource Unit (FRU).
We take this opportunity to inform all FEPACI members and affiliate regional and continental organisations that FEPACI believes that if this threat of closure translates into fact, the repercussions thereof will be widely felt and there will be an unfortunate regression of a distribution legacy that FRU has built, a legacy which will take us years to rebuild before there is effective recuperation.
FRU has been a strategic distribution partner and possesses a critical mass of films of all genres from a wide ranging community of African film –makers. The relationship FRU has had with FEPACI has brought meaning and relevance and measurable distribution results. South African audiences have been able to see documentaries and feature films coming from various parts of the continent and this happened through direct intervention by FRU
FRU made inroads into building relationships with the various mass of African Film-makers through frequent visitations to the FESPACO where meetings with FEPACI members helped FRU design alternative distribution channels that functioned differently from conventional commercial distribution. These meetings were initiated by the late Richard Ishmael whose visionary approach and commitment to an alternative approach of the distribution of African films remains unique and his methods hailed for their inventiveness.
Richard Ishmael was not just an ordinary distributor lured into the industry by the money and power cultural products potentially have, he was a distributor with a political and economic agenda who understood that distribution was the basis for economic empowerment. FRU recognises the moral right, responsibility, power and control film-makers have over their films which is their intellectual property and that is what makes FRU a unique attraction to the majority of African film-makers. We have, this year, been forced by unnatural and unexpected circumstances to bid farewell to the tragic passing of Richard Ishmael, it would be even sadder and painful for us to bid farewell to the closure of FRU as well.
FRU has always focused its commitment to development. It has shared its vision with FEPACI of wanting to establish a distribution training centre that has a film library too. This vision potentially makes FRU a catalyst in creating opportunities for skills development and a concrete knowledge base regarding this particular sector. FRU also shared its intentions of encouraging the establishment of similar FRU structures to be installed in other regions to encourage greater synergy, skills exchange and trade exchange with the aim of creating viable distribution networks within regions. FRU also shared its aim of converting all its films to a digital medium for ease of distribution. Again this would be a strategic response to a digital world of film and the best formula used world wide to open films to new markets, raising options and opportunity for wider audience penetration.
FRU has long been working at building meaningful partnerships with public, private broadcasters within regions including fraternal relations with various embassies. FRU as the lead distributor of African films has a catalogue of approximately 800 films acquired from across the continent. The aggregation of content is a tedious process that happens over time, where there is material and financial implications, the sudden collapse of such an important platform has serious ramifications long term and will not only impact the morale of film-makers but also impair progress regarding viable alternative platforms of the distribution of African films.
It is our understanding that numerous historical factors have led to the current financial insolvency and possible liquidation of FRU. Among these are
1. A Leadership vacuum between April 2005 and October 2006, lack of handover from previous management to new management and resulting loss of institutional memory.
2. Unpaid debts to SARS among others dating back to 2001 (this was only recently uncovered through and internal audit instituted by FRU’s new management).
3. Delays exceeding 18 months in realizing contracts with donors such as NLDTF (5 million) and license contractors such as SABC and OBE TV.
We have also been made to understand that FRU is in the process of implementing several key distribution, exhibition and training programmes, for which funding has been secured from stakeholders including:
1. The Department of Arts and Culture (Community Arts Centre Audio Visual Education Project)
2. Government Communication and information Services (GCIS) for the setting up of Multimedia Centres at al all local Multi Purpose Community centres.
3. HIVOS and Commonwealth Foundation (Regional film festival and distribution training project in five countries within SADEC
4. Gauteng Film Commission (Township Bioscope project aimed at reviving the cinema culture in local townships)
Although some of the above funders and partners have committed to continuing to fund the above projects, FRU cannot use the funds secured for these projects to settle the debt of almost R 3 million resulting from the above motioned factors.
We appeal for your support and call on the relevant institutions in South Africa including the National Film and Video Foundation, and the Department of Arts and Culture to take the lead and intervene to help FRU come out of this unfortunate situation and to seek remedial measures required to normalise the current situation. We call for an immediate probe and investigation of the causes of the current state of affairs at FRU and anticipate out of the investigation an outcome that will encourage proper accountability and management of the organisation in line with good corporate governance and practice.
FRU is a legacy project that had given South Africa an opportunity to partner and collaborate with the rest of Africa. Film-makers such as Haile Gerima, Cheick Oumar Sissoko, Idrissa Ouedraogo and others continue to give their full support to FRU. FRU is not only there as an alternative option to commercial distribution but is also there as a political, ideological platform that creates a sense of pride and resonance that Africa can stand by itself and can initiate, own and control instruments of change and transformation
Seipati Bulane Hopa
Secretary General
FEPACI
