African Films Available on Demand

In Africa, the field of media and telecommunications is set to experience spectacular growth over the coming years. Operators are already investing heavily in the Internet, mobile phones and television, but the field of film production and distribution remains the weakest link, as African filmmakers often encounter problems in accessing both African and potential non-African audiences, who are often unable to easily buy or rent films. The number of commercial cinemas in Africa is decreasing and films are often distributed illegally in Africa and across the world wide diaspora. Most African producers still rely heavily on European programmes to produce and distribute their films.

In response to this, a new project supported by the ACP Films Programme will enable viewers to pay a fair price to buy or rent a wide range of African movies and videos, “with the guarantee that money will benefit the directors and not the pirates”. This project ‘AfricaFilms.tv’ is a VOD (video-on-demand) platform that will make African films, TV series, sitcoms, documentaries and cartoons about Africa and the Diaspora available online, all with French, English and Spanish subtitles. The portal is already online in pilot form, and the debugging of the website will be completed this summer. Users can select products by country or by type (film, soap operas, documentary etc.), with both new and older films available. The platform will form an interesting showcase for African products, as well as allowing copyright holders to increase their income and the public to enjoy easier access to these products.

Andrea Marchesini Reggiani