Malawi’s own film festival on the cards

Film Association of Malawi (Fama) yesterday introduced a film festival that will showcase local movies to promote the local film industry.

Speaking during a press briefing in Lilongwe, Fama’s president Gift Sukez Sukali said the first edition of the festival will be held this year from 25 to 26 November at the Golden Peacock Hotel in Lilongwe.

He said: “We want to give a boost to the film industry in Malawi as we know that the film industry has the capacity to help Malawi grow economically, but also preserve our culture.”

Sukali said they will also export films to other countries which in return will bring revenue to the country.

He said the association has also organised film competitions and training workshops which have already started in Blantyre and Lilongwe.

The association plans to extend to other districts.

Said Sukali: “Our aim is to train at least 500 filmmakers by the end of the year targeting Malawians, especially women. We encourage females to attend the training so that the industry should be gender-balanced in terms of people handling technical issues, but also in acting.”

The festivals will be conducted under the theme ‘Filmmaking for Socio-Economic Growth and Cultural Preservation’.

In a separate interview, National Planning Commission (NPC) public relations and communications manager Thom Khanje said the festival reflects the aspirations espoused in the Malawi 2063, the country’s long-term development plan.

He said: “The agenda recognises the film industry or the visual arts as one of the events in the industry that can support Malawi’s economic development and wealth creation through job creation, foreign exchange generation and indeed putting Malawi on the map of countries that are using culture to promote their tourism to grow the economy in the country”.

Khanje added that the NPC plans to partner with Fama and the department of arts to make the festival an event attractive to both local and international audiences. 

Fama said it requires K60 million to host the two–day festival and is currently engaging partners to help fund the event.