At a fund raising dinner organised by the Africa Film Academy in Lagos,
Nigeria on 17 October, filmmakers called upon private organisations to support the export of African culture through films.
Zeb Ejiro and Alhaji Zani Muazu, President of the Motion Picture Practitioners Association of Nigeria spoke on behalf of the industry. They said the Nollywood was started with the efforts of Nigerians and they should not wait for government assistance.
They charged filmmakers in Nigeria and beyond to look inward and make films that would be box office hits while stressing the need for collaboration between the industry and corporate organizations.
Afolabi Adesanya, Managing Director of the Nigeria Film Corporation, who represented the Minister of State for Information and Communications Labaran Maku, noted that the Nigerian film industry has projected the image of the country positively to the outside world noting that the Nigerian film industry is one of the great achievements of the past 50 years of independence.
The Minister commended the efforts of Peace Anyiam-Osigwe in raising private sector fund to support creative works within the industry and her Africa Movie Academy Awards initiatives which for the past six years has honoured filmmakers across Africa.
The elaborate evening gathering organised by AFA was attended by several Nollywood stars/stakeholders, United Nation funded agencies, international grant providers, donors and representative of the government of about 30 African countries including, Nigeria, Swaziland, Ghana, Algeria, Tanzania, Egypt, and Morocco.
Commenting at the event, Chief Executive Officer of AFA and Founder/President of AMAA, Peace Anyiam-Osigwe explained that AFA embarked on the establishment of the fund because of its commitment to growing film making in Africa.
AFAF is a vehicle set up under AFA to provide funding facilities for filmmaking, marketing and distribution, with the goal of encouraging quality cultural productions.
