![African Cinema Seeks Bigger Role On World Stage](https://photo-cdn.urdupoint.com/images/icon-menu.png)
African Cinema Seeks Bigger Role On World Stage
![](https://photo-cdn.urdupoint.com/images/icon-menu.png)
Accra, (APP – UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News – 17th Nov, 2023) As a filmmaker and head of Ghana‘s film agency, Juliet Yaa Asantewa Asante said she always had the same sense when attending international industry events: African cinema had so much more potential to deliver.
CEO of Ghana‘s National Film Authority, Asante joined forces with Nigerian and other African filmmakers and distributors this week in Ghana‘s capital to debate how the continent’s industry can do just that.
Africa‘s film and audiovisual businesses generate about $5 billion annually, but could potentially reach $20 billion and create 20 million jobs, according to the UN cultural agency UNESCO citing a pan-Africa filmmakers’ federation.
The continent with the youngest population also has fewer than 1,700 cinema screens. That compares to around 44,000 in the United States and 75,500 in China.
Even with the recent success of African movies on streaming platforms such as Netflix, the continent’s potential remains largely untapped, UNESCO’s report said.
“There are spots of sunshine or spotlights happening on the continent,” Asante told AFP in an interview.
“But if you look at the continent’s potential, what is happening really is barely scratching the surface, so we began to ask ourselves why?”
Asante, who directed the Ghanaian film “Silver Rain”, met this week for the first Africa Cinema Summit with cinema leaders such as Nigeria‘s FilmOne Group, Ghana‘s Silverbird Cinema and international industry representatives.
Among the topics discussed were new technologies to improve content quality, marketing in the digital age, better policy-making for the industry and Africa‘s impact on global cinema storytelling.
“We are largely spectators to stories happening everywhere,” Asante said. “We know that we have so many stories in our backyards that haven’t been told.”
On the continent, Nigeria‘s Nollywood industry is a leader churning out around 2,500 films a year, second only India‘s Bollywood movie giant.
But even in Nigeria, the continent’s most populous nation, there is more to do, Asante said.