Martin Endjala
The Namibia Broadcasting Corporation Director General Stanely Similo has expressed satisfaction at finally seeing all the pieces coming together in airing reality TV stories. The DG stressed that reality stories tell who we are and 100 percent of what and who Namibians are.
Similo narrated this during this week’s MultiChoice Namibia and NBC announcement of 13 Local Film Concepts hitting the Namibian screens soon.
The 13th film producers were selected from a total of 204 submissions and narrowed down to 22, with 13 eventually emerging as winnners.
A process that Similo describes as not easy, given the number of good story submitted but it needed to be done to select those that met the requirements.
The DG stated that these will not only give incentives to those involved, but it will provide jobs for many Namibians.
“We still believe that beyond and outside what Multichoice is doing today the call and voice must be out, we want cooperate Namibia to support the arts and put the money into this business,” said Similo.
He thus called on corporates to come on board and invest in the project, while urging film producers to tell the story so that people can invest, further pointing out that the stories that are going to be told are part of Namibians day-to-day lives.
Meanwhile, the Multichoice Namibia Managing Director Roger Gertze said that it is a proud moment in the history of the company to see a project of this nature finally paying off.
“Our investment into the Namibian creative economy is an exciting milestone for MultiChoice, and our hyperlocal strategy. MultiChoice’s mission is to showcase Africa’s diverse, rich culture through our continent’s deep storytelling history. To have 13 new locally produced films provides an incredibly powerful platform to propel African video entertainment to even greater heights,” said Gertze.
He stressed that the project is envisaged to provide platforms where creative script writers and film
producers can make their mark in the local film industry sphere and internationally.
Amongst the selected film producers is the notorious song writer, designer, script play writer and
producer Michael Pulse, who said that he is very ecstatic to have been granted a local opportunity to showcase his art under a very thrilling project.
Pulse said that the 13th film producers now need to get the ball rolling and give the Namibian masses a deserving stage of true authentic reality stories.
The multi-talented award winner went as far as encouraging upcoming film producers and those who submitted but could not make the cut o continue producing and finding other means of funds.
Pulse will be producing a film titled ‘Home is Where the Money is’, while Vickson Hangula, a veteran film maker and Frieda Karipi will be co-producing ‘Kauna’s Way’s.
Speaking to the Windhoek Observer, Hangula reminisced the 27-years of experience since 1995, with the ups and downs, in trying to get opportunities within the industry, and to finally see his art getting a chance is very exciting.
He added ‘Kauna’s Way’ comes from 22 years ago, advising other film makers to grab the opportunities that are created to showcase their art.
Hangula took us into a taste of what to expect from ‘Kauna’s Way’, narrating that it’s about a young school going girl who took a wrong path to a point of hijacking her friend’s scholarship by sleeping with her principal to go study to be a doctor in America. Upon her completion of studies Kauna then returns to her motherland and started rendering her medical service in informal settlements for free as a way to give back to her redemption.
What is narrated in the story coincides with the lives’ challenges of today and misforturnes of many young women experience. The producer is keen on sending out a positive message to hel young women.
MultiChoice and the congratulated the producers who responded to the invitation to submit their films and called on the creative industry to submit film concepts that would showcase a fresh and exciting outlook on Namibia. Over 200 films were scrutinized by experienced M-Net and NBC teams.
The winning selections were based on characterization, loglines, and overviews of the film, as well as culturally relevant stories that would resonate with audiences in Namibia and beyond. NBC Director
General, Stanley Similo applauded the M-Net and NBC teams for their efforts in the selection process.
