What is called in the West “the award season” is now over with the end of summer and the setting of winter which may not be a good time to speak about arts. Winter may not create the mood for celebrating the arts. It is however a good time to write or read books, by the fireside or in bed as the snow rattles the windows outside. In Africa on the contrary, the climate is marvelous at this time of the year although climate change is sometimes creating shocking surprises. We get thunders and rainfalls in the middle of sunshine at the wrong time of the season.
Regarding artistic awards, which is our main concern here, there are a number of success stories coming out of Africa although they are not many. Here and there, African writers, artists or movie makers are winning prestigious prizes in various genres. The sad thing is that these prizes and their winners are not widely publicized in African countries while Europeans and American media are past masters in making their achievements known to the rest of the world.
Western media are serious when it comes to making money by selling the American Dream to the rest of the world. They have a number of prestigious literary and arts awards such as the Nobel, the Booker, the Commonwealth, Pulitzer, National Book Awards…etc. They have built solid institutions for movie awards such as the Cannes, Berlin, and other movie awards in various categories.
Where is Africa in all this? Almost nowhere. True, there are African writes and moviemakers, or black actors or writers who are accorded one of these awards to celebrate their merits. Let us look at this year’s Nobel Prize for literature. Personally, I was expecting Kenyan author James Ngugi, or Ngugi wa Tiongo in his native Gikuyu, to win the Nobel this year as he was shortlisted several times in the past. Ngugi, along with Soyinka is no doubt the great old doyens of African literature. True, longevity has nothing to do with the Nobel award but Ngugi is an exceptional writer who has spent his entire working life writing books that matter for Africa and the world at large. Unfortunately an obscure author from Europe has dashed our hopes and Ngugi is left behind this year. Who knows next year may be his time for revenge.
The situation in cinema is even worse. African films and filmmakers have won some prestigious awards in the past. Nowadays, they are almost forgotten as they are struggling in the shadows of the big studios who choose what kind of movie to make as well as what kind of movie the audience should see. Otherwise, Ethiopian filmmakers Haile Gerima should at least be nominated or shortlisted for another prestigious award. And when we look at Ethiopian cinema, we realize that it is still struggling with ‘pangs of childhood’, so to say. In a global industry dominated by the money churning studios in Hollywood, artists like Haile have little or no chance to catch the attention of movie moguls and the studios they control.
It is not necessary to go back to the history of Ethiopian cinema in order to assess or understand why a once promising industry is now caught with paralysis to such an extent that it is almost going out of existence, let alone thrive and conquer the outside world as many African film industries are doing at this moment. To begin with, the modern Ethiopian industry started on a weak financial and knowledge bases. Its trajectory was not well-planned, studied and launched with the necessary insights or vision that could feed the industry with creative alternative to ensure its long-term survival. Everything was done spontaneously without the necessary preparations and institutional support from government or the private sector.
When we talk of art, we are not talking exclusively about cinema. There are also other artistic endeavors including painting, music, sculpture, advertising, designing, fashion and others. We focus only on cinema and literature because they are better known than the other fields and command media attention and larger audiences or followers. The art market is for instance an important component of the world of arts but information about its progress is scanty and awareness is very low. This particular area hits the headlines only when there are scandals or sensational stuffs around it. The movie market and the literary market to some extent command chronic public attention and the media give them exclusive focus for many reasons although their understanding or appreciation of African and Ethiopian arts is inadequate.
Unlike countries like Egypt or Nigeria and South Africa, the Ethiopian film industry had no experience to build its future on. No doubt that there is a great deal of enthusiasm and energy among the new and young crops of Ethiopian film makers but that is not enough to run an industry because the film industry is above anything else about vision, skills, money and experience.
The other point is that the Ethiopian film industry had no ambitious plans of turning into a vibrant undertaking with lofty objectives such as becoming a strong industry that would provide employment for tens of thousands of young people and generate huge incomes to the country in the form of taxes to the government.
Public and private institutions were not involved in setting grand national development objectives as India, Nigeria, Egypt or South Africa have already done. There was no government film policy that could show the way towards these strategic objectives. In brief, cinema was largely understood as an entertainment outlet only, or there was no serious commitment on the part of the major players.
A decade or two ago, the art scene had started to show vibrancy and cinema in particular has been emerging from its long hibernation. With the rise of young and ambitious script writers, actors and producers, Ethiopian cinema in particular seemed to be set for a kin d of rebirth. People with money had started to be attracted to the nascent but feeble industry in the hope that their investments could produce sustainable profits or lucrative incomes. All in all, the industry had started to take baby steps.
That was justified because almost all industries start with money and making money is their primary objective. Nothing can be achieved without money unless there are banks that are willing to provide generous loans, as the big Nigerian banks, in order to help aspiring filmmakers to live their dreams. The Nigerian film industry was hugely supported by some of the biggest banks that have contributed to its phenomenal growth, making Nigeria the third biggest producer and exporter of films in the world.
However, in an industry that needs heavy financial infusions for its growth, the Ethiopian film industry could no grow and thrive by producing with low-budget low quality video movies and cast and crew that are sweating on meager pays or starvation wages that barely cover their daily expenses. In the absence of awareness of the economic potentials of the film industry as employer, taxpayer and source of income for so many people, hopes are set to quickly turn into disappointments. This is what has happened to the domestic film industry at present.
Producers whose first films were successful had started to reinvest their money in the industry in the hope they could get enough returns to reinvest in the industry so that they could make more films every year. Their hopes may have sounded romantic at that time because making films in the local languages had its particular attraction as anyone could understand the stories and enjoy them. Some of the movies produced in the early days had even international appeal and were selected by international juries at international festivals. That has changed now.
Alas! T those hopes and aspirations turned into disappointments as unfavorable winds started to blow and carry away those sweets dreams and youthful energies. The unfavorable winds did not blow for a long time. Neither they were able to undermine the sweet dreams had the foundations been built on solid grounds. First COVID 19 struck in 2020 and then film making in this country crumbled like a house of cards while stronger industries across the continent braved the storms, ensured their survivals and rose quickly as the bad wind abetted within two or three years.
The Ethiopian film industry however could not survive the blow or fight for its because of its weak foundation and the financial starvation and absence of support it was exposed since its revival two decades back. The studio owners that could be counted on the fingers of a single hand were caught in allegations of fraud and shifted the meager profits they made during the early “boom” from cinema to real estate or any other more secure investments. The flood of new films that appeared every week and the long queues around movie houses disappeared due to the pandemic and even long after it subsided.
Taking part in international competitions may not improve the standard of arts or literature in any country and yet international competitions certainly give you the visibility that African arts or literature need if they want to be seen on a par with the developed world. Visibility can be seen as a certificate for accession to global art and literature markets. If the world does not know you, you remain in the shadows and the best achievement would certainly be limited to local visibility that does not mean anything in terms of promoting your art or literature in the world stage.
There are of course many African artists and writers who have made their names in the global marketplace and have even achieved celebrity status. However, in this fast changing technological age, any filmmaker or writer worthy of the name should be ready to join the highly competitive global stage which is already crowded with established as well as new celebrities while African and less so, Ethiopian professionals, are watching the show from afar.
The new and upcoming generation of African writers and filmmakers need to change this unjust and unfair relationship by adopting a more aggressive, more creative and more productive attitudes to claim their legitimate places in the contest for outsmarting one another and become the pride of Africa as well as the black race in general.
BY MULUGETA GUDETA
THE ETHIOPIAN HERALD SATURDAY 4 NOVEMBER 2023
