Film corporation's tourney splits moviemakers
By Shaibu Husseini
A RECENT decision by the Nigerian Film Corporation (NFC) to institute a football challenge among practitioners of the Nigerian home movie industry dubbed Nollywood has continued to generate reactions within the industry. And two camps, traditionally, have suddenly emerged: those for and those against. But those against, who consider the decision not only ill-advised but completely wasteful and misdirected seem to be in the majority. Although the management of the film corporation has continued to explain that the project was borne out of the need to promote camaraderie among filmmakers in the Nigerian motion picture industry, observers of the sector have found laughable, the decision by the NFC to institute a competitive football event for people that are purely engaged in a creative enterprise like filmmaking.
A source at the NFC had said that the event was proposed as a 'recreational activity' among filmmakers, those who have followed the hype that has greeted the event insist that the decision in its entirety is an indication that the regulatory body and the practitioners that reportedly embraced the project have lost focus.
In a widely circulated press statement, the NFC claimed that practitioners have thrown their weight behind the establishment of Nollywood Football Challenge (NFC) Cup competition being promoted by the Nigerian Film Corporation (NFC). The release signed by the corporation's head of Public Affairs, Brian Etuk indicated that the decision to institute the soccer tournament was taken at the well-attended quarterly interactive forum between the Nigerian Film Corporation and industry Guilds and Associations held in Lagos on May 25.
According to the statement, practitioners welcomed the establishment of the football challenge cup competition, which among others, is intended to promote and foster unity among industry practitioners who are members of existing guilds and associations. Representatives of practitioners and heads of the various guilds and associations who attended the meeting held at the NFC's Lagos office reportedly recognised the new status of the Nigerian motion picture industry in the world entertainment industry as affirmed by UNESCO in a recent survey they commissioned. They similarly commended the Nigerian Film Corporation for its role in the UNESCO study, and for the football project, which they say, will further boost the repositioning of the entire industry.
Presenting the football project to practitioners at the forum, Afolabi Adesanya, Managing Director of the Nigerian Film Corporation, emphasised the need to foster cordial relationship within the industry. The Nollywood football challenge cup competition, Adesanya said was one of the strategies the Corporation intends to use in addressing the issue of cohesion within the sector.
Adesanya listed the objectives of the football programme to include, promotion of the physical wellbeing and development of members of the guilds and associations, positioning the guilds and associations for local and international support and assistance, engaging in healthy competition amongst the guilds and associations, improving existing relationships, cooperation and collaborations among and between guilds and associations members.
The benefits also include strengthening the relationship between the Nigerian Film Corporation, the industry and corporate Nigeria as well as facilitating the creation of a yearly platform for an interface between the regulatory agency and practitioners. According to the blue print of the proposed football challenge cup competition, guilds and associations shall be encouraged to form football teams, with registered official names. Also, through preliminary/elimination stages, the league matches will lead to the finals with cash prizes for the first, second and third wining teams.
The private sector shall be encouraged to sponsor the league, as well as corporate organizations, government agencies and parastatals who will be approached and encouraged to partner/collaborate either through direct funding or through grants as part of their corporate social responsibility.
Considered a laudable idea by some practitioners who may have bought into the argument that the project - 'football challenge' beyond other reasons the NFC has advanced, will help engender physical well being, there are many who think that there is so much work that needs to be done to save the industry from its present state of near collapse, than engage in what a virulent critic described as 'absolute frivolity'.
And emphatic is the position of those, who think that the NFC has a lot to contend with especially in the pursuit of its mandates than engage in facilitating recreational activities for practitioners. They reason and rightly too that such a project is better left for the practitioners to organize or even suggest. A senior member of the filmic tribe who pleaded anonymity had reacted thus: "May be the NFC and those who embraced the project have run out of ideas. But honestly there are more productive things that the NFC can be engaged in than waste time organizing football competition for filmmakers. Not even burn its energies on looking for sponsorship for football events. When I first heard the news, I thought the NFC was partnering with the football association to better film our league matches only to find that it's the filmmakers themselves that want to feature in the league. This is what associations can organize and engage in at their time especially when they are marking their anniversaries, not what they would devote time to, to even the stage of registering clubs and winning prizes. If you ask me I would say that this amounts to misplaced priority when a film developmental agency reduces itself to facilitating football challenge for its members. It is absolute frivolity. A complete waste of time and resources," the practitioner charged.
He added: "Have you stopped to ask if footballers themselves will ever take to filmmaking as a way of relaxation? It's pure misplaced priority and unfortunately the gullible few would rush at this frivolity when they should be concerned about how to get the Minister to work speedily at getting a regulatory framework for the industry in place and fighting piracy as she did with fighting drug barons," he argued.
But the controversial football challenge was not the only issue discussed at the meeting. The issue of the setting up of the Motion Picture Practitioners Council (MOPICON) was raised and discussed. Practitioners were reportedly assured of the determination of the federal government in the establishment of the council. Although, the statement did not say when government intends to formally set up the council that has been in the works for close to half a decade now, Adesanya reportedly assured that the Minister of Information and Communications, Prof. Dora Akunyili who met with practitioners recently to solicit their support in the government's re-branding effort was more than determined to ensure that all requirements for development of the motion picture industry are addressed by government. Adesanya, enjoined practitioners to take advantage of the current local content policy initiative and the re-branding project of the federal government to launch themselves back into mainstream production of television programmes.
At the quarterly forum which is an interface platform between the Nigerian Film Corporation and industry practitioners, representatives pleaded with the film corporation to facilitate the training and retraining of film makers, saying that professionals were in dire need of training to up their skills. The annual SHOOT! Professional training workshop held at the National Film Institute in Jos, they said should be sustained but the film corporation should design special training programmes for practitioners in the Lagos area.
Present at the interactive forum were Iyen Agbonife (Designers Guild of Nigeria), Bond Emeruwa (Directors Guild of Nigeria), Emmanuel Isikaku (Film/Video Producers & Marketers Association), Mahmood Ali-Balogun (CMPPN/DGN), Gregory Odutayo (NANTAP), Busola Halloway (ITPAN), Fidelis Ewata (Nigerian Society of Editors), Tony Anih (Script Writers Guild of Nigeria). Others were Francis Onwochei of AMP and Osezua Stephen of ITPAN, Tex Benibo, Director of Research and Statistics (NFC), Brian Etuk, Head of Public Affairs (NFC), Mrs. Francisca Duro Oni, Head of Lagos Office of NFC and the Corporations' Head of Industry Support Services, Dr. Diran Ademiju-Bepo. Filmmaker Mr. Ali-Balogun was the only practitioner who could be reached before press time to react to the idea of the institution of the football challenge for filmamkers. Although the documentarist didn't see anything wrong in practitioners engaged in recreational activities, the founding member of the Conference of Motion Picture Practitioners of Nigeria and a member of the Steering Commitee of MOPICON submitted that the issue of the football challenge may have been taken out of context. "I was at the meeting where the idea was mooted," he said on telephone adding; "the idea was only proposed as a way of promoting friendship among practitioners. Just something to loosen practitioners up and not that filmmakers will leave their work to begin to play football. I think it's just recreational and what the NFC pledged is their support so far it will help in engendering friendship among filmmakers," he submitted.