Strengthening Ethiopia’s film industry through sound institutional and structural frameworks
Over the past few years, Ethiopia’s film sector has been growing steadily. It is estimated that, between 2005 and 2015, 600 films were produced in Ethiopia, with 57 feature films also produced in 2018 alone. For the country, the film industry is a strategic economic growth sector, capable of playing meaningful social roles such as promoting a democratic culture, peace and unity. While Ethiopia ratified its film policy in 2017, with a special focus on job creation for the youth and gender equality, policy implementation has not started due to a lack of frameworks to carry out the envisaged measures. Consequently, the project supports Ethiopia in designing a structural and institutional framework, by laying the ground for the creation of a national film institute. The project responds to the following needs and challenges identified by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism:
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The project accompanies the country to develop a structural and institutional framework to implement Ethiopia’s film policy, by mobilizing various government and film sector stakeholders. This project will serve as a pilot, and its results will be replicated in other sectors of the Ethiopian cultural and creative industries.
The structural and institutional framework to be created will help tackle problems stemming from organizational bottlenecks, by paving the way for the establishment of a film institute to uplift the capacity of film professionals and to channel the necessary funding to enable quality film production and distribution.
- April 2021: Project launch.
- December 2021: National stakeholder meeting in presence of the newly appointed Minister of Culture and Sport of Ethiopia.
- February 2022: Virtual Peer-to-Peer meeting with the South African National Film & Video Foundation.
- Spring 2022: Mapping of the film sector according to the nine pillars of the national film policy in coordination with the SIDA-funded project “Reshaping Cultural Policies for the Promotion of Fundamental Freedoms and the Diversity of Cultural Expressions” an Gondar University.
- Sping 2022: Consultation meetings on the draft strategic framework in Addis and Gondar.
- June 2022: Implementation plan of the film policy, contributing to the overall strengthening of the regulatory framework in which the national film industry operates.
- July 2022 (expected): In person Peer-to-Peer meeting with a larger team of stakeholders in South Africa.
- July/August 2022 (expected): Final presentation of the strategic framework.