Cameroon Film Industry Takes Step Forward

By EFFA TAMBE, Cameroon Tribune, 06-11-2014
Collywood has merged with the Francophone film industry.

A group of French-speaking film-producing Cameroonians have met the representatives of the movie-making industry, Collywood, in Buea to find out progress made so far with film production in Cameroon and to become a part of it instead of creating another organisation in French.

Speaking after the meeting, the Board Chair of Collywood, Vitalis Otia Suh, told Cameroon Tribune that Collywood was predominantly Anglophone since its creation in 2008. Since its inception, Collywood has created six guilds, which are specialised units in film making. These are the actors’ guild, producers’ guild, directors’ guild, technicians’ guild, writers’ guild and the marketers’ guild. Technicians have been trained and maintained while encouraging professionalism and improvement on the quality of their products. 

More so, over 200 films have been produced, some of which have won international awards.  “Ninah’s Diary has won more than 30 international awards in film festivals,” said Vitalis Otia Suh. The film was acted in Sabga in the North West Region. Some of the films, he said, were acted with foreign actors like Mama G, Tonto Dike, Jim Iyke, John Dumelo from Nigeria as well as Van Vicker from Ghana.

The Board Chair said the main problem they are facing is the lack of support and financial sponsorship from the government and business stakeholders as well as the lack of a veritable network. He called on business people to come and liaise with them so as to set a veritable network. They intend to set kiosks at junctions of busy roads where Cameroonian movies will be sold exclusively.