\ The National Film Authority (NFA) has launched the Cinema Train Initiative to expand access to cinema across the country and give filmmakers better opportunities to exhibit and commercialise their productions.
The initiative is expected to bridge the gap between film production and exhibition by bringing producers, distributors, exhibitors and audiences together on a common digital platform.
Speaking at the launch in Accra last Saturday, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the NFA, Ms Kafui Danku, stated that limited access to cinema facilities and exhibition platforms continued to prevent many Ghanaian filmmakers from reaching wider audiences.
She said many communities had limited opportunities to watch films on the big screen, while filmmakers struggled to find reliable platforms to showcase their productions.
“We cannot build a sustainable film industry if we produce films without creating pathways for people to watch them,” she noted.
Ms Danku explained that the initiative had been developed in consultation with key industry stakeholders to revive Ghana’s cinema culture and strengthen commercial relationships among players in the industry.
She said the digital platform would enable audiences to identify available film screenings across the country and purchase tickets, while creating opportunities for filmmakers and exhibitors to earn revenue from their productions.
The initiative, she added, was also expected to attract investment, create jobs and strengthen businesses within the creative economy.
Ms Danku called on filmmakers and other industry players to contribute their expertise, ideas and resources to ensure the success of the initiative.
The Board Chairman of the NFA, Mr Ivan Quashigah, said the authority was targeting at least one per cent of Ghana’s population to watch locally produced films as part of efforts to grow audiences and strengthen the film industry.
He underlined that the authority believed that if every Ghanaian film attracted at least one per cent of the country’s population, filmmakers would earn better returns, enabling them to produce more films and improve their quality to attract larger audiences both locally and internationally.
Mr Quashigah described the Cinema Train Initiative as the vehicle through which the authority intended to achieve the target, stressing that the growth of the film industry depended largely on expanding its audience base.
He said the initiative would address the long-standing challenge of connecting completed film productions to paying audiences and make Ghanaian films more accessible to communities across the country.
Mr Quashigah further elaborated that making films readily accessible and encouraging audiences to pay to watch them would ensure that revenue circulated throughout the industry, benefiting producers, exhibitors, distributors, actors and thousands of young people whose livelihoods depended on the sector.
BY PRINCE ADDO FRIMPONG
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