13 September 2000
Paris — Jacques Reirat, a French programmer of films in various cinema halls in Paris, has disclosed plans to reserve one of the halls to the projection of African films beginning October.
While critics regard the move as a risky undertaking, allegedly because they would not attract a large crowd, Reirat is optimistic many people would seek to see the unfamiliar African films.
In taking the initiative, Reirat says he hopes to promote a better understanding among peoples of different cultures.
"If we want to learn to better appreciate others, we must show films coming from other areas of the world, African films of course, but also Latin-American films, Asian or films from the Middle East," he told PANA Tuesday.
According to Reirat, if Africa was not in vogue in terms of films that have not yet made inroads on the global scene, "it is up to us to take the initiative and prove to the general French public that African films exist and the African producer is active."
Benin national Sanvi Panou who heads the management team of Image d'Ailleur - the only cinema hall in France that projects uniquely African films - hailed Reirat's initiative to show African films in Paris' chain cinema Sept Parnassiere.
However, he regretted that he was not consulted before Reirat launched his initiative, which he saw as a threat to Image d'Ailleur's existence.
"What shocks us and what we do not understand is that our cinema hall, Image d'Ailleur, has been in existence for more than 10 years and as Africans we understand better the African film environment in France.
"We would have appreciated if we were consulted in order to ensure that the interests of all were protected," he said.
Panou criticised the Intergovernmental Agency of the Francophonie for not consulting his Association of Image d'Ailleur about problems they experience in order to show African films in France and how together, they find solutions for mutual benefit.
He accused the agency of giving financial assistance to the French film promoter Reirat as a veiled threat to the existence of Image d'Ailleur, which was already financially feeble.
The Intergovernmental Agency of the Francophonie, the French Culture and Foreign Affairs ministries as well as the European Development Fund, were the principal donors for African cinema.
But according to statistics from the French National Cinematography Centre, France was not visibly open to foreign films, except those from the US, which are popular in French theatres.
Out of the 525 films projected on French film screens in 1999, almost half (209) were French, while 179 were American and 28 British.
Nearly 3 percent of the films shown in 1999 in France were Japanese and Italian, while some 2 percent were from Netherlands, Germany and Canada.
According to the statistics for the rest of the world where African films were projected, only 51 films were cited globally during 1999, which represents less than 10 percent of the total number of films world-wide.
Panou suggested that the Intergovernmental Francophonie Agency could have consulted and worked in partnership with the cinema hall, Image d'Ailleur.
"How can we talk of the Francophonie when we from Francophone Africa who partly depend on the Agency for our survival are weakened by the same organisation," he wondered.
But the director of cinema in the Intergovernmental Agency of the Francophonie, Jean Michel Crepeau, categorically refuted the accusations, saying that the agency has devoted 800,000 French francs to the launching of an annual fund for the promotion and assistance of films from the Francophonie zone.
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