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East African film makers on Wednesday convened in Arusha in an effort to form an alliance of film festivals that will support the regional integration agenda.
The three-day first Preparatory Forum for Film Festivals and Film Makers was made possible by the East African Community (EAC) in collaboration with the German International Cooperation (GIZ).
The forum is meant to prepare ground work that will lead to the integration of all film festivals and film makers in the region into a regional body that will advocate for the film sector and also support the regional integration efforts through film in the overall context of culture and creative industries.
Addressing the forum, EAC head of the Corporate Communication and Public Affairs Owora Richard Othieno hailed East African Film Festival directors for coming up with such idea.
"The move is recommendable and will take the regional bloc into another stages, taking into account that the industry is very powerful, when it comes to taking message to the public," he said.
The official said the trading bloc's secretariat will fully support the initiative to further strengthen the already existing cooperation between the EAC, other state and non-state actors towards building a stronger East African Community through the arts and culture.
"Indeed this is a laudable initiative and is in line with Article 119 of the Treaty for the Establishment of the East African Community, the Common Market Protocol and the Development Strategy (2010-2016), all of which provide for the fostering of public - private sector partnership towards the development of culture and creative industries in the EAC," Owora said.
"The Film industry is one of those culture and creative industries in the region with great potential to alleviate poverty and also to create employment for young people. The EAC is cognizant of the critical challenges facing the sectors such as the low capacity, infrastructure, financing and copyright among others. But these are not insurmountable," he said.
Martin Mhando, the CEO and director of Zanzibar International Film Festival, noted that culture has been used to shape and to govern identity and as festivals are perceived to be vehicles for "re-imaging" places, they also give communities a creative focus, helping to celebrate achievements, forge community identity, and of course in generating increased tourism.
He said the region was rich in talent but has no infrastructure to develop the talents and the formation of a festival network is a response to such a need.
The forum is being attended by film directors, cultural officers, and culture and creative industries stakeholders.
