The Director-General of Namibian Broadcasting Corporation (NBC), Stanely Similo, has called on the corporate sector to invest in creating local content.
According to Similo, “If we as Namibians do not produce our own content, we will forever be subjected to viewing international content, and our stories will not be told.”
This comes after the NBC and MultiChoice Namibia called on local film producers to submit proposals reflecting authentic Namibian stories.
The initiative received over 200 entries, from which 22 were selected. Similo indicated that the first 13 scripts are expected to be produced towards the end of this year, and candidates will also receive a budget of between US$23 500 and US$26 800 for their projects.
“The films will be aired on DStv Namibia platforms as well as the NBC,” Similo said.
The criteria used for the selection process included being Nambian and submitting work that had not been submitted before. “During the selection process, we had an embedded value that women filmmakers had to be prioritised,” he added.
Similo further noted that the industry needs to be supported. “Namibia has great talent and creations which needs to be showcased; however, funding remains a challenge,” he explained.
Managing director of MultiChoice Namibia, Roger Gertze, said that the initiative was created to ignite the Namibian film industry. “The purpose of this project is to revive and ignite the film industry. Some productions that are winning awards would cement all initiatives underway to revive the industry.
“Namibia has been part of several international films, and we want to ensure that Namibians receive the economic benefit from them,” he says.
M’kariko Amagulu, the deputy director of arts, shared that the Ministry of Education, Arts and Culture is committed to helping guide the growth of art in the country. “As a department, we want to set up a fund that would enable us to support content creation. We have been discussing several ideas to create a conducive environment, together with various stakeholders, in supporting local content,” he said.
