It’s time for Jollywood
06 November 2015
Discussions are under way between the City of Johannesburg and the national Department of Arts and Culture to explore ways on how to grow the film industry and create new opportunities for the sector to continue to flourish, Executive Mayor Councillor Parks Tau said last night (Thursday November 5).
The Mayor was speaking at a gala dinner on the second day of the 11th edition of Disco Africa, a three-day gathering of the crème de la crème of the pan-African film, television, packaged channels and adaptation rights industry being held at the Sandton Convention Centre. Discop Africa-Johannesburg, which ends on Friday November 6, attracted high-profile international and regional buyers, sellers, independent producers, distributors, broadcasters and packaged channel operators. In his speech, Mayor Tau said Johannesburg’s infrastructure, fascinating visuals and other factors had seen the film and television industry going from strength to strength. “Johannesburg’s positioning as the epicentre of commercial and logistical interface between African countries makes Discop Africa an extremely valuable platform for growth in the industry ... “As the City’s leadership, we recognise that the film industry is important for our economic growth as well as our reputation as a world-class African city and business hub. There’s Hollywood and Bollywood and now there’s Jollywood,” the Mayor quipped. Speaking at the same gala dinner, held at The Venue in Green Park, Sandton, Arts and Culture Minister Nathi Mthethwa said Discop Africa-Johannesburg had cast a much-needed spotlight on the interest in content that was locally representative.
“As a country and as a continent we are hungry for the truths of our own realities and we want to dream big. There is a huge demand for local content, content that allows us to see the world from where we stand and Discop Africa-Johannesburg provides an invaluable platform to network, discuss challenges and ideas and take opportunities,” he said. Minister Mthethwa said that in a quest to capitalise on the fact that Africa was the world’s largest growing digital entertainment industry, systems were being put in place to transform the local industry and inject much-needed growth. “The arts industry contributes R9.5-billion to the national economy and creates hundreds of direct and indirect jobs. We are looking at multinational cooperation and collaborations as well as local interventions, including using community centres, to grow the arts industry,” said Minister Mthethwa. He said Discop Africa also strengthened ties between South Africa and China.
He acknowledged the People’s Republic of China as “guest country of honour” at the dinner. First launched in 2008, Discop Africa is a highly influential calendar event for the pan-African film industry. Taking place biannually, Discop Africa attracts more than 2 500 delegates representing more 1 800 companies from 85 countries. The 12th edition of Discop Africa will place in Abidjan, Ivory Coast next year.