Nigeria's Motion Picture Industry, dynamic - Duke

 

 

 

The Minister for Arts, Culture and Tourism, Chief Edem Duke.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Industry


Lagos, Aug. 16, 2013 The Minister of Culture and Tourism, Chief Edem Duke, said on Friday, that the Nigerian Motion Picture Industry (MPI) was a dynamic tool for promotion of Nigeria’s cultural diplomacy.

Duke said this at a lecture organised by the National Institute of Cultural Orientation (NICO) at the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA) in Lagos.

He said that the Nigerian’s film industry had witnessed phenomenal growth in the last couple of years.

 ``It is now ranked the second largest in the world, and there is no arguing the fact,’’ the minister said.

The theme of the lecture is: `Nollywood as an Instrument for Nigeria’s Cultural Diplomacy: Reflections of a Cultural Administrator."

``Films are cultural products and assets considered the most influential medium for entertainment and education.

``It behoves us to take advantage of it to launder our international image and also draw attention to Nigeria as a fascinating tourism destination.

``It is imperative that stakeholders see themselves as our cultural ambassadors and work assiduously to use film as a medium to project Nigeria positively to the international community, ‘’ Duke said.

The minister said that the Federal Government was much concerned about the challenges confronting the film industry.

On the issue of piracy and copyright infringement, Duke said government was doing everything possible to check the menace so that stakeholders could fully reap the fruits of their labour.

Prof. Ayo Akinwale of the Faculty of Arts, University of Ilorin, in his lecture, urged the Nigerian filmmakers to pay attention to the nation’s cultural diplomacy when producing films.

He said that some of the films paid due attention to the nation’s cultural diplomacy, while many did not.

Akinwale predicted a brighter future for the Nollywood industry if necessary attention was paid to production of good films.

``For a film to sell, it must be aware of its exportation capabilities, language, costumes and emotional interaction or else it will not contribute anything to the nation’s cultural diplomacy.

``There is need to correct all the errors that we have noticed in our production. Such errors that came as a result of putting commerce before excellence in production must be addressed,’’ he said.

The don suggested that attention should be paid to content, script writing, artiste welfare and professionalism.