THE National Film and Video Foundation is putting its money where its mouth is.
And this is indicative in the many feature films (Ayanda, The Boda Boda Thieves, Impunity, Necktie Youth and Tell Me Sweet Something), doccies (Miners Shot Down, The Dream of Shahrazad, The Shore Break, Wild Dog & Mrs Heart, Nasser: Egypt’s Modern Pharaohs); and short films (The Call, Evelyn and Tapiwa and Unomalanga and the Witch), showcasing at DIFF this year.
Tonight stole Zama Mkosi, the CEO of The National Film and Video Foundation, away for a quiet chat on their plans for the industry in this evolving landscape.
She notes, “The reality that we are operating in changes every so often and very quickly. One of the biggest challenges being an agency of government (is that) we change far slower than the environment because it is the nature of the beast that we are. But we do try and remain as dynamic as possible within the limitations of PFMA (Public Finance Management Act) and the statutes that govern us and so on. The key areas that we are looking at now is to obviously keep opening up markets for content.”
On that note, she also emphasised other strategies – one born from a recent study involving the economic baseline – in play.
“It came out, not for the first time, but it gave us a reminder of where the bottleneck is – marketing and distribution. So for us, the plan is to open that up.”
Another interesting development is the decision to relook their slate funding concept that was started a while ago.
She explains, “We were funding production companies over a period of three years. Supporting them so that they can have the funds to run the business but, at the same time, develop a whole slate of projects from which to choose first.
“We have had it from film production companies – that’s where Ayanda came out of. But what we are doing now is changing tack. Last year, we added a documentary company as well.
“This year, we are going to add a distribution company because we know that one of the biggest challenges is that there are not enough distributors and sales agents.”
Another pioneering move is the addition of an animation company.
Having funded Khumba and Zambezia, both by Triggerfish Animation Studios, she reveals, “It is a big growth area. We want to make sure that we are not only focusing on film or documentary production, but we also start and assist with animation companies to be at that Triggerfish level.”
TV and social media are other facets that have registered on the NFVF’s development radar.
“Research has shown, yet again, that eyeballs are still on TV. Ninety percent of the content is watched on TV. We are funding more TV movies. That also creates opportunities for people to fine-tune their skills before they get to feature films in cinema.”
“As much as we need to be coming up with projects to enable brick and mortar exhibition spaces, we also need to be looking online.
“Social media is a reality. We need to look at how we can create an online platform for content.”
NFVF have also established ring-fence funds for the youth and female filmmakers. Jyoti Mistry’s Impunity being a key example of the female aspect.
Talking to the NFVF’s DIFF slate, Mkosi enthuses, “We are obviously very excited. It is a great honour to have Ayanda opening the festival.
“We are very proud of the production company, the director Sara Blecher. It’s a female-led film, from director to the production house. And it is based on the life of a strong woman character.”
“That, for us, was a film that moved South African storytelling in many ways. You know, other projects we are proud of as well are the youth filmmakers projects. And Tell Me Sweet Something, which is a love story told in a very unique way.
“We are hoping that all these films, when they come out on circuit, will translate in box-office retails due to word of mouth from DIFF.”