Fledgling film industries in Africa need all the help they can get – from corporate sector support, to a national emphasis on the development of arts and culture, to buy-in from the public.
The Malawian film industry can only grow if filmmaking is seen as a potential business, according to local filmmaker Shemu Joyah (Seasons of Life), who recently delivered a public lecture to this effect in Blantyre.
Fellow Malawian Mike Phoya, author, filmmaker and founder of non-governmental organisation Kupeza Chambo, organised the lecture, which revealed that only a handful of Malawian films have been made in the past 40 years. There are no professionally trained technicians and actors in the country.
Joyah’s presentation included references to the film industries in the US, India, European countries and Nigeria. The latter’s indigenous film industry, dubbed Nollywood, continues to demonstrate that filmmaking can be a major business enterprise.
Said Joyah: “The past 15 years have seen Nigeria rank among the three largest film producing countries – after the US and India – with estimated earnings of over US$200m per year.
“Malawi should try and emulate Nigeria’s success if our film industry is to make any substantial strides. The corporate sector needs to take a leading role in this endeavour by investing in the local industry.’
Telling stories
He stressed the importance of good storytelling in local films and said Malawians should express their different tales in interesting styles.
“The script is the foundation of any good film. Our industry will be off to a bad start if we do not invest in creating good scriptwriters. I must stress that a scriptwriter is not an ordinary storyteller; he or she has to have the ability to tell the story in images because cinema is primarily about images,’ added Joyah.
Calling on locals to rally behind their own stories, he said companies have a social responsibility to promote arts and culture.
“They have to give back something to society instead of just taking away profits. Everyone needs some form of entertainment. In Malawi the major forms of entertainment are sports – mainly football – and music.
“Apart from music the consumption of the arts in Malawi is on the lowest rungs of the entertainment ladder. Yet the mental and psychological development of a nation is measured by the quality of its arts and culture.
“While wining the African Cup of Nations or the World Cup in football might send the whole nation into an ecstatic frenzy, a Malawian writer winning the Nobel Prize for Literature will give us more respect as a cultured country,’ commented Joyah.
He added that nations that have shaped history have largely been those with a strong artistic culture such as the Greeks, the Romans and the British.
Perfect vehicle
Joyah urged Malawians to start looking at how they can develop, not just industrially but artistically as well.
“Art offers a nation great insight into its culture and enables us to better understand ourselves since it provides a mirror of our lives. Of all the art forms film comes closest to reflecting the world as we know it. Film has the ability to take us on an emotional journey like no other art form. This makes it a perfect vehicle to depict our society, our culture and our country,’ he said.
Suggesting Malawians needed to understand themselves first before going forward, Joyah stated they must also actively contribute to history. He believes the best way to do this is to promote and consume local arts.
“Malawians must tell their stories, sing their songs and recite their poems. This will help us to improve as a nation and to understand our culture,’ he continued.
The lecture also touched on the tourism industry; Malawi has a potential tourist industry that has not been fully exploited. Joyah attributed this to the fact that its tourist destinations have not been well publicised and marketed internationally. He suggested that a well-shot, internationally distributed feature film shot in Malawi could help to expose the country’s beauty.
Joyah noted that when the Oscar-winning film, Out of Africa, was shot in Kenya in 1984, it dramatically boosted the country’s tourism. Also the television series Baywatch contributed so much to tourism in the locations where it was shot that Hawaii and Australia pitched to have the series filmed on their shores.
Breakthrough
Filmmaker Joyah is looking forward to the day when a Malawian film will breakthrough internationally and bring throngs of tourists to the shores of Lake Malawi and the country’s spectacular game reserves.
“But I have to say that the arts, like a new born baby, cannot sustain themselves. They need the impetus, the guiding hand and the financial muscle of the corporate sector before they can stand on their own.
“The US film industry has become a major foreign currency earner at a time when its motor vehicle industry, for example, is facing stiff competition from other manufacturing countries like Japan, South Korea and India.
“While investing in the film industry might look like an outlandish idea, given the determination of Malawian filmmakers, you never know where our industry will be in 10 years’ time.’
His sincere hope is that one day, not in the too distant future; a Malawian film will lift the Stallion of Yennenga at FESPACO or even get a nomination in the best foreign language film category at the Oscars.
