E4bn for film media programme

MBABANE – A whooping E4 billion budget!

The European Union values the importance of telling cultural tales through film, this year US$226 million which is equivalent to E4 billion, has been allocated to the programme which features local film and film makers.

This development was highlighted by the EU Ambassador to Eswatini, Her Excellency, and Dessislava Choumelova during her speech at the European Film Festival, which was held this past weekend at Alliance Française.

“Film was born in France in the last years of the 19th Century and is central to our European cultural heritage. About 30 years ago, in 1991, the EU created a specific instrument to support our audiovisual and film industries, but also to highlight our cultural diversity and increase the circulation of European works: The media programme,” said Choumelova.

She further shared that the European Film Festival extended a hand to the local creative industries, as part of a wider effort by the EU to empower the youth and creatives as drivers of positive change in

Eswatini putting reference to the Eswatini film ‘Liyana’.

The programme has proved to be effective because the locally produced film has been winning international awards since its debut in 2017. ‘Liyana’ has been screened all around the world. The progamme has revealed endless possibilities for filmmakers in the kingdom since its open to all keen individuals as the hunger for local content is evident.

Depicting

Film has been the primary medium for storytelling, for depicting and exploring the world, and for engaging and shaping the human senses and emotions, memory and imagination.

As highlighted by the EU ambassador, the Ministry of Information, Communication and Technology also echoed how ‘Liyana’ has put the kingdom on a global stage and extended their appreciation to the European Union delegation. “We would like to thank the EU delegation in Eswatini for their continued efforts in funding the Eswatini Independent Film and Television Producers Association towards the up skilling of local filmmakers,” said the Ministry of ICT representative Ntombifuthi Khumalo.

This synergy has produced eight short films and those films have contributed towards the local content quota for

Eswatini TV.

Some of their work was screened at the three

-day film festival that was held at

Alliance

Francaise this past weekend.

It was screened both in

Eswatini and Lesotho.