I would first like to express my admiration for the vitality of cinema in Burkina Faso. In the current landscape of African cinema, faced with the difficulties that we know, there is indeed a «Burkinabée exception», to the delight of the world cinema lovers; its persistence is undoubtedly a model for many professionals in the sector across the continent. The success of the FESPACO is closely linked to it, and every two years the Ouagadougou Festival is one of the most important international events for the cultural influence of the Francophonie.
You all know this much better than I do: African cinema, unfortunately, is not in the situation of Burkinabe cinema, and audiovisual and film production channels in many countries of the continent are often threatened.
At the Avignon Forum last November, Souleymane Cissé told us of his deep concerns about the future of African cinema. At a time when the digital revolution is shaping a world where the profusion of images is in order, Africa is unfortunately experiencing a profound crisis in its cinema.
This crisis has visible symptoms: I want to talk about the quantitative decline in film production, but also about the closure of all these cinemas that were for decades open to the world and places of intense cultural exchanges. I would also like to discuss with you, as the French Minister of Culture and Communication, some new avenues for cooperation on which we could work together to foster the emergence of productions of international standing.
Because talent is not what is lacking, and the FESPACO is there to prove it: there is in Africa all the creativity necessary to bring out works that will fit in the continuity of all those who have contributed so much to the world film heritage, like the late Ousmane Sembène, but also Idrissa Ouédraogo, Gaston Kaboré and many other leading creators.
In terms of support funds, the share of African films in all the productions that benefit from them is often down significantly. As far as the South Fund is concerned, the share of African productions has thus increased from 34% of the files selected for the period 1984-1988 to 12% for the period 2005-2009. The European Commission’s Media Mundus programme focuses on Asia and Latin America. On the other hand, we can only welcome the substantial increase in the budget allocated to the ACP Films Fund under the 10th European Development Fund (EDF), to which France contributes a very substantial part.
On this point, however, it is clear that the support mechanisms on which African cinema can rely lack coherence and coordination. There are the European funds, the Southern Fund for France, the Dutch, Swedish and Spanish funds, the OIF grants: this multiplicity should represent a priori an asset. However, the lack of coordination between these various mechanisms can encourage duplication and losses. Bureaucratic procedures can sometimes discourage talent. There is certainly important work to be done on all these points. Creating new funds specifically for Africa would not be a solution; it would be a sort of ghettoization of African cinema, at the risk of placing it in a sort of “second category” in terms of aid arrangements.
Above all, the improvement of our cooperation arrangements must be able to rely on the commitment of the partner States. France is of course fully prepared to help States that wish to have expertise in all areas where they want to promote the structuring of the film industry:
I am thinking, for example, of the legal security of professions, of the initiatives of the West African Economic and Monetary Union aimed at promoting the circulation of works on a regional market, the potential contribution of television channels to film creation, to fiscal or para-fiscal arrangements to support creation, and to highlight emerging good practices, such as Mobiciné and Cinéma Numérique Ambulant, the inclusion of audiovisual and film in their general development objectives, which would allow them to benefit from the support of the major development funds (EDF, World Bank), if they so wish), but also and above all to strengthen respect for copyright and the fight against widespread piracy, which has the known impact on the commercial life of films in Africa.
Together, we can do much to promote African film creation, but this commitment by your public authorities is clearly a prerequisite for us to work together to design more effective support measures. On all these questions, Minister, I know that you are particularly mobilized.
A conference of contributors to African cinema
Returning to the coexistence of national and multilateral funds - such as those of the European Union and the Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie, a number of films presented at the Festival have also benefited -, it makes sense to me to say that their effectiveness could be increased if their coordination and accessibility were improved. That is why I propose to organize as soon as possible in Paris a major conference of contributors to African cinema. A meeting at the Cannes Film Festival will allow us to define the format so that it is as efficient as possible.
Strengthening the Southern Fund
I hope that the complementarity of my Ministry’s actions and support for African cinema with the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs will be strengthened. I will talk about this very soon to my colleague Alain Juppé, in order to consider together a strengthening of our financial commitments for the Southern Fund. I am also thinking of better adaptation to needs, particularly for early films, so that we can better support young creators.
The Southern Fund, which I had the honour of chairing, is an institution in which I firmly believe. It is an essential tool that works concretely to promote cultural diversity. It is up to us to reinvigorate it, by rethinking the operation of aid schemes for production, but also for dissemination and training. In Burkina Faso, we can see the quality of the higher training offered to audiovisual technicians – I am thinking of ISIS, or the Imagine Institute in Gaston Kaboré -, which served the growth of national audiovisual production and the influence of Burkina Faso’s teams throughout the region.
Strengthening cooperation between the TNC and African countries
I also hope that the Centre National du Cinéma et de l'Image Animée, of which I greet the new President Eric Garandeau, will be able to relaunch and redefine a policy of active and extensive cooperation with African cinematography, starting with the updating of the co-production agreements concluded with the countries of Africa and the Maghreb - there are currently seven - and also with the conclusion of agreements with countries wishing to forge new cinematographic links with France. These agreements are not only legal tools allowing easier access to CNC assistance; they are also the guarantors of the establishment of lasting and privileged links between French cinema and foreign cinemas. And in this respect, Africa is still insufficiently covered by this policy of agreements.
So here are some concrete proposals that I wanted to share with you so that we don’t stop at announcements without tomorrow. If we manage to combine our efforts, I think we have the cards in hand to support you in your desire to give a new impetus to African cinemas.
Thank you.