The challenges of the training and the jobs in cinema and broadcasting were at the heart of the debates at the 25th edition of the FESPACO, Pan-African Festival of Cinema and Television of Ouagadougou, held from February 25 to March 4, in the capital of Burkina Faso.
This was an opportunity for Malian filmmakers to take part in the reflection on the problems that hamper the development of the film industry on the African continent.
« Malian cinema needs to rebound. Those who have studied in film academies will disappear in a short time and those who are coming are young people who have not had as much training as we have had. We really believe that there must be a policy that allows our children to go to universities to learn cinema », says filmmaker Souleymane Cissé.
The existing training structures need to be strengthened, adds Cheick Oumar Sissoko, Malian filmmaker and general secretary of the Pan-African Filmmakers Federation (FEPACI).
« We have a large multimedia arts and crafts conservatory where, in the multimedia section, young people learn how to edit and produce, but this is not a defined curriculum for training people to graduate ».
According to Sissoko, « a school of cinema costs very expensive ». And to consider: « Should we not favor integration and see the other schools that exist, how to get together to have a very large high-quality cinema school in each of the five regions of the continent ».
If all are in favor of the creation of cinema schools that meet international standards, the comedian Hamadoun Kassoké believes that learners must make the effort to acquire a solid general knowledge in order to progress in the profession.
« Before, those who studied drama at the National Arts Institute had a fairly solid background in literature, painting, anthropology, poetry, history … But today I notice that the level has fallen, he emphasizes.
Sory Kondo