Calls for a film commission to better regulate the industry
Botswana has many brilliant minds in the arts such as the fantastic Aobakwe Peacy Letamo, an animation director and enthusiastic lover of art, mainly specialising in 3D modelling of movie characters and environments. The gifted chap was raised in Palapye, Botswana. He said that from studying Art and design in Junior school, he fell in love with Art as an escape and a tool for telling stories. “Since 2015, I participated in various art competitions centered around telling local stories. I was runner-up in the BTCL Poster Design competition, and went on to join various art competitions, winning various awards like the President’s Day award and the Dstv star awards.” Letamo went on to pursue a Degree in Animation at LISAA University in Paris, France where he recently graduated. In 2021, he animated a short film titled Cocoon alongside a team of seven animation students. The movie focused on spreading awareness of children’s rights. It went on to win The Enhance Majuscule Childhood Media Prize 2021(An Annual French media award). He also led a team of talented animators and artists who participated in the 50Hour animation contest hosted by The Lausanne school of the arts in Switzerland. He acknowledged that the African continent overflows with mythological and true stories that need to be told.
“Our great grandparents carried the oral tradition of storytelling that made it possible for our culture to pass knowledge, history, and experiences. It is our responsibility as creatives today to use modern mediums to do the same for the next generation,” he said. Letamo recently directed an animated short titled Marumong (Land of the bullets). Based in Botswana, the movie is a historical story that pays homage to the many African soldiers who fought in the second world war. The story was inspired by a conversation that he had with his grandmother, Bathusi Letamo. “She told me about my great grandfather who fought in WWII, and it dawned on me that this side to history is rarely shared. Throughout Africa, over two million soldiers lost their lives. The war also aided in building African nationalism, which resulted in a common goal for all Africans,” he said.
The release dates of the short film are yet to be announced; however, the film has already garnered international recognition as it has been selected for The Student World Impact Film Festival which presents an opportunity for our Film to be published on Amazon Prime.
Letamo is currently working on an extended script alongside a local writer, Neo Samu. He explained that the goal is to eventually turn this short film into an animated feature Film. “I would love to collaborate with local creatives. If you can contribute to the telling of our story, Reach out, let’s collaborate in the telling our stories, from our own lens.” The filmmaker noted that while there is some assistance for the creative industry in Botswana, with the absence of a solid film commission. “Though the film industry in Botswana is estimated to generate about $5.5 Million USD annually, films produced in the country are at less that 10% of the average market share. A solid film commission can also be responsible providing incentives for the private sector to invest in local content, because selffunding productions can be costly.” He said that a film commission will help to facilitate foreign shoots for example the government could support international productions by providing efficient licensing facilities and tax rebates. “One can argue that international productions will then replace local content however, it is
clear that they are already dominating the market with us only holding less than 10% of that market share. As such collaboration is necessary to build our own skills base, furthermore there is a need for the government to enforce online streaming services like Netflix, Showmax, and Amazon to have at least 20% of local content on their platforms. We also need public funding scheme that specifically targets the film and audio-visual industry.”