Academy game changer

26 Jun 2024

The Botswana Wildlife Film Academy will help catalyse Batswana’s participation in the wildlife documentary space, says the Assistant Minister for State President, Boitumelo Gofhamodimo.

She said at the academy’s premier on Tuesday in Kasane that whereas Botswana animals and iconic images had graced many documentaries, Batswana had participated very little in the making of such works.

Gofhamodimo said this was despite the fact that wildlife documentary genre represented  a significant part of the global content market.

“The main reason has been a lack of skills, networking and other opportunities for Batswana to participate,” she said.

The academy is one of the key deliverables under the Botswana Ignite project, commonly known as the Steve Harvey Global Partnership project. It is also intended to facilitate the creative industry in the film and television space.

“This is one of the flagship projects under the Economic Recovery and Transformation Programme by which President Dr Mokgweetsi Masisi is determined to boost the economy of Botswana by diversifying the economy and unlocking the value chains towards economic growth,” said Gofhamodimo.

She further stated that the wildlife documentary academy was aimed at equipping young Batswana film-makers to participate in the global space within this genre meaningfully .

It also aims to train a minimum of 240 young people in the next three years.

Gofhamodimo also relayed that government expected that graduates from the academy would be able to not only produce their own works for global consumption but also be able to service producers from other parts of the world coming to make documentaries in Botswana.

“We expect these graduates to be the first point of call for any producers coming to Botswana to do such works. In that way, we are confident that significant foreign earnings will be realised through film and documentary,” she said, expressing optimism that the graduates would also seize the moment and produce unique  Botswana stories.

In her welcome remarks earlier, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry for State President, Goitsemang Morekisi, said the launch of the academy marked a great milestone for the nation.

She thus gave all the stakeholders and individuals who worked hard to ensure the Academy became a reality a pat on the back.“This project is actually a game changer. I want you trainees to take advantage of the training you get and give your all. See it as an opportunity that is going to change this nation greatly,” she said, echoing the assistant minister’s words that the setting up of the school was also a fulfilment of the promise by the government of Botswana to construct another engine of growth that would help create employment and bring much needed revenue to the government coffers.

Giving an overview of the film school, Botswana Ignite Project Director, Duncan Irvine described the school as one of the best in the world due to the uniqueness with which it had been put together.

He reminded his listeners that robust wildlife remained one of the massive advantages that Botswana had. Like Gofhamodimo,  Irvine decried limited participation by Batswana in wildlife film and documentary production, which he agreed would change significantly with the advent of the academy.

He said the school also took students through the paces of doing business with film and documentary and was excited that sooner rather than later, Batswana’s produced flora and fauna wildlife documentaries would be beaming on television screens across the globe.

Brandon Williams, Steve Harvey Global’s chief operating officer and chief legal officer, called on students to take their studies seriously and impact the global wildlife film and documentary space, especially since the project was done with them in mind.“The leadership of this country and Steve Harvey wanted to do this for Botswana and not for themselves. It was your President and Steve Harvey’s commitment to have the Botswana Ignite project,” he said.

A student representative, Tamia Wright said being part of the film school had inspired her to consider the bigger picture, motivated and instilled her with a lot of confidence to explore her creative side. She said being part of the first batch of students at the school had woken in her greatness that she would incorporate into her filmmaking career thanks to the top-notch lectures the school had. Ends

Source : BOPA

Author : Mooketsi Mojalemotho

Location : KASANE

Event : Interview

Date : 26 Jun 2024