SABC MEETS WITH NFVF ON TRANSFORMATION
The South African Broadcasting
Corporation (SABC) and the National
Film and Video Foundation (NFVF)
held broad discussions on the issue of transformation within the South African
film and television industry.
The meeting follows the announcement
of nominees for the 10th South
African Film and Television Awards (SAFTAs) which took place last week Thursday.
SABC Chief
Operations Officer, Hlaudi Motsoeneng said the issue of transformation is very
important to the SABC and is in line with our mandate as a public broadcaster.
“The NFVF is a custodian of the
growth and development of the local film and television industry, hence the
need to find common ground in the interest of sustaining the partnership. We
are therefore pleased that the NFVF is of the same mind on this issue and we
are committed to working with them to transform the industry,” said Motsoeneng.
Marking the 10
years of the SAFTAs, the two parties agreed that urgent attention is required
to transform the industry and ensure that the awards become more inclusive. It
is for this reason that the two parties agreed to continue with the partnership
for the 10th SAFTAs
taking place on the 18th and
20th March 2016. In so continuing, the parties will ensure that
productions that feature African languages, women and people with disabilities
will be considered and a window period be opened to accommodate them before the
awards.
NFVF executive
Ms Zama Mkosi said, they were “constantly refining the process of the SAFTAs,
guidelines for submissions and the judging process and there is an overwhelming
commitment by the NFVF to broaden participation of previously disadvantaged
individuals and groupings in the complete value chain of the film and
television industry”.
“There is a conscious effort to
create greater access and level the playing fields in a sustainable manner.
This can only be done through meaningful dialogue and committed partnerships
amongst all stakeholders,” she said.
The SABC has
already begun its contribution to transforming the production industry by
allocating R600-million towards local content, with its Request for Proposal
(RFP) Book, released in 2014. One of the aims for the RFP Book is to cater for
productions that are owned by women, youth and people living with disabilities.
The RFP Book has also catered for marginalized languages.
The NFVF
continues to make funding available for Production and Development, and
Marketing and Distribution through its various Programmes. In the last three
years, the NFVF has directly invested over R200 million into the sector.
The parties
also agreed to appoint Nkosi and the SABC’s Group
Executive for Television Ms. Verona Duwarkah to make sure that the agreement
reached is implemented before the upcoming SAFTAs.
Comments