A lot of the movies that are classified as African these days are those made in Nollywood, Nigeria’s film industry. This is sparking an important discussion among the ones in the industry, especially those who believe that Nollywood is ruling the world of African movies. They would rather identify with their individual country than being addressed as Nollywood. However, others believe that collaboration in making African movies is a good idea.
Some of the issues discussed at the Pavillon Afrique at Cannes Film Festival 2019
Traditions and beliefs are similar throughout Africa and so are the stories. But how rich African stories get across to the world and how many watches African movies might be affected by collaboration. If filmmakers in Africa are making movies that truly represent Africa, there should be no difficulty in collaborating more.
During a discussion at the Pavillon Afrique, a platform which is set out for African filmmakers at the Cannes film festival, Kunle Afolayan along with other filmmakers talked on the need for collaboration of narratives and distribution.
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The Nollywood actor pointed out that there is much segregation in filmmaking between the Francophone and Anglophone countries in Africa. He noted that the continent and filmmaking should not even be based on the language we speak.
Kunle Afolayan further cited an example with one of his movies ‘The CEO’. For the cast of ‘The CEO’, Kunle has utilized the expertise of actors from Morocco, Cote d’Ivoire, South Africa, Kenya, and Nigeria. This concept will help boost the distribution of African content as he said.
The market for African content is growing according to Thomas, a member of the Advisory Board of the Pavillon Afriques. Africa should take advantage of this fact and work together. Not only for distribution but also to build a common base for the African movie industries. Investors, distributors, and filmmakers in Africa must work together to see this through.
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