Windhoek — This week saw a great milestone for Namibian film makers through the launch of a project called the Namibian Movie Collection.

It was announced that there is now a whole section specifically reserved for Namibian films in the Franco-Namibian Cultural Centre (FNCC)'s Multi-Media Library.

The project is the brainchild of young film maker, Joel Haikali founder of Joe-vision Production, in cooperation with the FNCC.

"The Namibian Movie Collection is the first step in addressing the issues that block the development of the Namibian film sector," Haikali said.

"It also serves as a point of reference for the country's creative development and its unique cinematographic identity.

Haikali also announced that the public can access the collection's online catalogue and browse through conveniently. The website to visit is AfricAvenir International at (http://www.africavenir.org/about-africavenir/about-windhoek.html).

"AfricAvenir International added its weight to the project after it recognised its relevance, necessity and how crucial it is towards the achievement of the overall purpose to develop and actively promote the domestic film industry," he said.

Partnering with AfricAvenir, according to Haikali, will promote and introduce Namibian films and film makers to an international audience.

The Namibia film collection will feature more than 20 movies, the majority of which are made by Namibian-based film makers.

"We believe this is necessary and crucial towards achieving the overall objective the development of the Namibian film industry," Haikali said.

"We hope that more Namibians will be encouraged to make films telling their own stories.