Heremakono wins FESPACO 2003   Best actor and actress awards   Prize winners   Promised Land is a hit   South Africa stronger than ever   Nigerian film debut   What you said on Africa Live   FESPACO winner banned at home   Why not African actors?   Ivorians stay away from FESPACO   FESPACO 2003 Opening Ceremony   Congolese band get the party started   FESPACO prepares for lift off   FESPACO Director invites the stars		Ofeibea Quist-Arcton (l) with South African guests on FESPACO Live South Africa in good shape Greater collaboration and increased funding are giving a boost to South Africa’s film industry, according to the organisation that co-ordinates film production in the country. The National Film and Video Foundation’s Chief executive was established since the last Fespaco in 2001. Now, its representatives in Ouagadougou claim that as a consequence, the country has its greatest ever presence at FESPACO. A total of ten South African films are being shown at FESPACO 2003. The NFVF is a government funded body with a brief to develop the film industry. It brings together film makers, television companies and government departments to realise projects. Media Consultant with the foundation, Dianne Regesford, says that South Africans have been at FESPACO since its inception, but they have never presented such a united front. But while the NFVF gives the rainbow nation more clout at a continental event like FESPACO, it’s Chief Executive Eddie Mbalo is quick to play down any suggestions of seeking continental supremacy “The intention is not to dominate but to collaborate” and he says of the country’s film makers “they are are very young and there are people who have been around for years in the African film business and we have a lot to learn”. The NFAF also aspires to have a positive cultural role back in South Africa. “Funds for script development have been increased” says Regesford “and there is specific focus on specific content to capture South Africa’s history; to tell our stories and create idols so that film also becomes a very important tool for the self upliftment of people” One such example of this is the short FESPACO entry A Drink in the Passage. It is a tale of a black sculptor who during the apartheid years entered a whites only competition and won. “Zola Maseko’s film is a window on South African history” says Regesford. Ofeibea Quist-Arcton is the chief correspondent for allAfrica.com

	^^ Back to top	<< Return to BBC Fespaco home page