Accra, July 7, GNA - The Major Students and Television Festival in Africa, ANIWA 2003, on Monday opened with a call on film and television professionals to reconsider a change in the total mindset of African cinema, to depict real African culture. Mr Martin Loh, Director of the National Film and Television Institute (NAFTI), said Film in Africa was still in its development stage since there was yet to be productions that depict pure African culture without the incorporation of western or adopted ideas. Mr. Loh, who was speaking at the opening of the two-week festival called on film and television professionals to take advantage of the facilities provided by the institute to enhance their skills. The Festival on the theme: "Liberating the Mind", is aimed at promoting and encouraging quality training in film and television in Africa and re-emphasising the focus on the role of film and television as an instrument for change. It is also aimed at training both students and teachers at a workshop so that they could replicate their skills and ideas to others in their various institutes.

The festival that is co-sponsored by NAFTI and Deutche Welle, Berlin is expected to host about 50 participants from Namibia, The Gambia, Nigeria, South is Africa, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Kenya, Zimbabwe Ghana and Germany. Mr. Loh said the institute had been striving over the past years to train and enhance skills of film and television professionals to ensure quality African productions. "We want to research deep into African cinema to see what has been going wrong and what should be done to add quality to our productions", he said. He stated that NAFTI has managed to set up a research centre where data and other important materials and documents have been collected and stored to help professionals make inform decisions. "The centre would also be used for a distance education programme where both local and foreign nationals could learn from each others culture", he added.

Mr Loh further explained that management was working hard to get Internet links to ensure the success of the distant education programme. He said the first week of the festival would be devoted to a workshop that would focus mainly on the New media, including digital animation and Post-production while the second week would analyse productions of students and how to screen films.

Mr. Kofi Sakyiamah, Chief Director, Ministry of Information, said the poor quality and contents of films being shown on both national television and theatres was having such negative effect on the youth and was damaging the cultural fabric of the society. He said a Film Development and Classification Bill would soon come out to promote film development in the country.

The National Film Board, to be established under the Act, would be adequately empowered to institutionalise and enforce the culture of quality, priority and decency in the distribution, sale and exhibition of films and videos in the country, he said. Mr Sakyiamah stated that the Board captures the policy direction of the development of the film industry, which includes the evolving of a dynamic, economically self-sustaining and culturally conscious film industry. "This would promote the use of film for national integration, cohesion and mobilisation for the projection of the country's image abroad", he added. He further said the draft bill would also include a film fund to ensure the swift running of the industry. He urged film professionals to take advantage of the workshop and NAFTI's facilitation to ensure a vibrant film industry in Ghana.