Nigeria and Norway set to partner on film development

Nigeria and Norway have reaffirmed their commitment to partner and develop their film industries which bear some similarities in terms of the role they play as tools for change and social re-engineering. This renewed commitment was expressed when the His Excellency, Jens Petter Kjemprud, the Ambassador of Norway to Nigeria visited the Headquarters of the Nigerian Film Corporation, Jos, last Wednesday.

Speaking at a meeting, Dr. Chidia Maduekwe, Managing Director/Chief Executive of the Nigerian Film Corporation (NFC), commended the Ambassador for the visit and assured that the NFC as the lead regulatory government film agency was desirous in creating the enabling environment for the Nigerian film industry to par with others film cultures. Dr. Maduekwe was emphatic that Nigeria has become the next frontier in terms of global creative economy.

NFC, he further said, is developing a robust plan, which includes domestic and foreign linkages that will serve as catalysts for Nigerian film practitioners to ply their profession. Maduekwe, emphasized that training and capacity building to deal with skills gap in the film sector was being addressed through the National Film Institute (NFI), and called for further partnership and exchange programmes between the National Film Institute (NFI) and the Norwegian Film Institute (NFI).

Earlier, His Excellency, Jens Petter Kyenprud, said he was at the NFC to seek ways of partnership and collaborations for film agencies in Norway. According to him, Nigeria has a large and robust film industry with an employment of about 100 million practitioners. This to him, and in addition to the rich culture and literature of Nigeria, makes Nollywood a major brand for Nigeria. He averred that the Nigerian film industry has a duty to correct the negative portraiture of Nigeria, through the development of appropriate storylines in films. “Nigerian films must strive to breakdown these negative perception”, he said.