Ouagadougou — Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso, is putting the finishing touches to preparations for the 17th edition of Fespaco 2001, the biennial Festival of Pan African Film and Television that opens on Saturday, 24 February and lasts a week.
Every two years, the dusty and hospitable Burkinabe city opens its arms and welcomes film directors, producers and other professionals, as well as enthusiastic film-goers. Ouagadougou becomes a focal point, continental hub, giant screen and backdrop for everyone and anyone interested in African cinema.
Fespaco is the single largest showcase for African films and filmmakers. The first-ever pan-African film festival was held in 1969.
Although it is intended to celebrate both film and television, the emphasis in most of the past sixteen editions has been firmly on celluloid movies and feature films, which some people argue, has sidelined television and video. That is set to change. This first Fespaco of the third millennium, and a new century, has a fitting theme - Cinema and New Technologies.
The most prestigious award at Fespaco, the Etalon de Yennenga (the Yennenga Stallion) goes to a full-length feature film and has, so far, always gone to a film made on celluloid. But the cutting edge technology of DVD (digital video) has revolutionized filmmaking, and the internet is bound to alter the face of African cinema in the future.
Baba Hama is the secretary-general of Fespaco. He says what is really exciting this year is the development of TV video production. In an interview with the BBC, Hama was enthusiastic about new technology and what this should mean for filmmakers and film production on the continent.
Hama said the impact and the benefits for Africa should be immediate. "In the cinemas, we can use the new technology of video projections, so that more people can see this kind of production". Hama added that, already, one could watch many homegrown African television productions, and he found that encouraging. With a substantial percentage of foreign programming making up the diet of most African television film viewing currently on offer, Hama said new technology was likely to increase the number of well-made locally-produced programmes for continental television stations and audiences.
More and more African filmmakers are now working in video, which is much cheaper than celluloid. In past years, cineastes have spent up to ten years looking for financing to make very expensive feature films and some have never been able to make their movies, because they lack the funds. "This is why I think TV and video production are a good opportunity for African cinema," says Hama.
But there are steep hurdles to overcome. There is an acknowledged snobbery towards video among certain filmmakers who trained in, and are used to working in celluloid. They consider themselves 'cineastes' and refer dismissively to those who work in video as 'videastes'.
But as the Fespaco secretary-general points out: "When someone goes to the cinema and sees a movie, I don't think he is wondering what kind of movie he has just seen, video or celluloid. If you go to a cinema, it's just to see a story, to experience emotions. You don't ask yourself if it's celluloid or if it's a video. If it looks good, it's all the same".
The advantages of video, and especially digital video, are quality images and sound. And, practically, video film is easier to store and reproduce. One of the problems of celluloid film in Africa has been preservation. With heat, dust and humidity a reality in many countries, film libraries around the continent have found it difficult to conserve celluloid. "Now if you have DVD (digital video) and so on, this kind of problem will not be a handicap. So I think even those who are snobbish about using celluloid will some day decide to use video," argues Baba Hama.
Another perennial polemic in Ouagadougou has been the perception that Fespaco, a pan-African film festival, is biased in favour of French-speaking Africa, though the two working languages are French and English. This has caused some friction and some divisions. The move towards new technologies might change that too. Most francophones have, through tradition and training, preferred celluloid, while many Anglophones use video film. In West Africa, Nigeria and Ghana are taking the lead in using video.
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"For the forthcoming festival, you will see that there are many English-speaking countries which will come to the Fespaco, because video has a prominent place," says Hama. He concludes that, in some ways, the tables have turned and four films in this year's competition from Nigeria were made on celluloid. He sums it up this way: "I think Fespaco is a pan-African festival, so the arabophone movies, the francophone movies, the English-language movies and the lusophone movies can all be shown at the festival".
The opening ceremony of the 17th edition of Fespaco will be held on the afternoon of Saturday 24 February in Ouagadougou. The closing awards' ceremony is a week later on Saturday 3 March.
