Durban — The eThekwini Municipality’s Economic Development and Planning committee wants to continue funding the eThekwini Filmmakers Association (EFA).
The committee’s proposal will be discussed at a full council meeting on Thursday. The committee proposes to support the association until the 2024/2025 financial year.
The committee’s report highlights that the EFA is a non-profit organisation established to unite the emerging filmmakers in eThekwini and KwaZulu-Natal.
Since the EFA’s launch in 2011, the association has provided free training that is open to the public. The training is aimed at developing the local film industry by providing practical skills to aspiring and emerging filmmakers, and independent filmmakers.
The committee noted that the EFA works with the best independent established filmmakers, screenplay writers/editors, directors, producers, actors, technicians as facilitators to impart skills to the youth through workshops and practical training in filmmaking.
“The increased visibility of EFA to communities will benefit the aspiring filmmakers including high school learners in the creative sector to nurture their talents at the early stages.”
According to the committee, the objectives of the programme include pioneering a generation of young filmmakers, literature and films that will form the foundation of KZN film industry development; to pave the way for the telling of authentic, unadulterated South African stories in the film medium.
It also aims, “to discover and nurture untapped filmmaking talent of the youth in the Province through the research and workshop process; to widen the scope for economic participation in the film industry by ensuring that filmmaking skills become available to young aspirant filmmakers in their own language; to reclaim the identity of South Africa as an African country with a broad culture, which is, reflected in its diverse culture languages, especially in the rural settings of KwaZulu Natal.”
It further wants to provide, “a pool of human resources and talent necessary for the accurate reflection of our glorious and turbulent history and the recording of our daily experience for posterity through the powerful and everlasting medium of film; and to establish a truly South African cinema for both local and international audiences”.
The committee has proposed that a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with the eThekwini Filmmakers Association be signed.
It states that the EFA’s performance has been satisfactory, and that the annual financial statements for the year ended February 28, 2022, were in the process of being audited, with expected completion by October 2022.
The committee proposed that the MOA should be concluded “only when the set of audited annual financial statements is confirmed to the Legal Department with Finance certification.”
The report proposes financial support for the EFA to the sum of R600 000 for 2022/2023, and R700 000 for the 2023/2024 and 2024/2025 financial years.
The funds will be utilised for the Mzansi Reel Film Festival 2022/2023 and 2024/2025, the DFO African emerging filmmakers awards budget (Programme Management, Coordination and Administration); the skills development programme participants selection process; the eThekwini municipality regional outreach training programme; programme costs for professionals and film pilot production and editing.
Daily News