SA’s creative industries ‘central to socioeconomic transformation’

SOUTH Africa’s cultural and creative industries are central to the goal of strengthening the country’s industrial base, and these sectors are key contributors to socioeconomic transformation.

This was the key message delivered by Arts and Culture Minister Paul Mashatile at the National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF) Indaba at Emperors Palace in Gauteng on Thursday.

Mr Mashatile said the indaba, in its fourth year, was poised to answer tough questions regarding South Africa’s film industry on topics such as the slow pace of transformation in the industry, insufficient skills and a decline in cinema audiences.

"People are hungry to hear the South Africa story, the African story," he said. "There is a need to fast-track transformation in the sector with regards to ownership of production companies. We must also continue to invest in the development of skills required by the industry."

Mr Mashatile said there was no reason that the South African film sector should not become as big as, if not bigger than, Nigeria’s Nollywood.

"Some people complain about the quality of Nigerian movies, but they started somewhere and I think one of the key successes and lesson we can take from them is that they produce for themselves first," he said. "Only when you have an active and engaged home audience can you make movies for other people. It starts at home."

While the minister was optimistic about the future of film, some film-makers attending the indaba expressed concern about the lack of action on the part of the NFVF and the Department of Arts and Culture since the last indaba.

Addressing Mr Mashatile and members of the NFVF, independent film-maker David Forbes said the industry was struggling with the same issues it had grappled with for the past two decades.

"We continue to talk and to make policies without actually doing things that will take the industry to its full potential," he said. "One of the key problems is that film-makers don’t know what the NFVF’s strategy is. We need an integrated plan and we need to implement it soon."

Commenting on her experiences so far as a recent film graduate from the University of Cape Town, Larissa Pringiers said one of the difficulties in the industry was the shift in public viewing habits from film to television.

"People just don’t watch movies the way they used to," she said. "Nowadays it’s TV series that draw the audiences. Finding money to fund your project is always hard. There are just too many ideas out there. Everyone has a story they would like to tell and these funding agencies tend to be very selective."

The NFVF Economic Baseline Study Report showed that the film industry contributed more than R3.5bn to the economy in 2012.

Mmabatho Ramagoshi, chairwoman of the NFVF council, said funding bottlenecks remained a challenge.

"What we have had in the past is those who have money are those who can tell their stories," she said. "We have now ring-marked funds with the transformation agenda in mind so money will go to graduates and newcomers, women, people with disabilities et cetera.

"They won’t have to compete now for that money because it has been earmarked for their use."