This year’s annual Moscow international film festival has taken place from April 19 to April 26, 2024. This film festival is called the BRICS Moscow international film festival because BRICS member countries were also invited at the festival this year. The Moscow international film festival is one of the oldest in the world. For the first time it was held in 1935 with the famous film director Sergei Eisenstein (who directed the classic film “Battleship Potemkin” among many others).
This year’s Moscow film festival was also exceptional in that it has combined the regular annual festival with the BRICS film festival in one with the participation of more countries. Why is it called BRICS international film festival? At this point it is important to give a short highlight of BRICS which is roughly known as an economic cooperation forum.
According to Wikipedia, “The BRICS countries are considered the foremost geopolitical rival to the G-7 bloc of leading advanced economies, and implementing competing initiatives.” The inclusion of non-founding members to the group has bolstered its influence with the aim of achieving global economic equity through a multilateral framework.
BRICS is an intergovernmental organization comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates. It was originally devised as a group of countries that came together to promote investment and economic development in their respective countries. However, it later on evolved as a kind of geopolitical alliance since 2009 where members meet every year at a conference that discussed issues such as multilateral cooperation and mutual benefits.
As a matter of fact, the BRICS countries are not only known for their economic achievements alone. Most of them have a rich film history and a remarkable growth in their respective film industries. Russia is one of the most advanced countries in the world for its film history and the contributions it had made to the growth and development of global cinema. From the 1930s to the 1960s, Russian cinema had witnessed a real boom as new and talented directors, producers, script writers and actors came to the scene and enriched what was then known as Soviet cinema. Sergey Eisenstein was among the most the most brilliant film makers of that period although there were also lesser known stars.
The other BRICS countries that have strong film traditions include India, China, Brazil, Egypt, Iran. In Ethiopia and the United Arab Emirates, the film industries are less developed although Ethiopia has a long history of filmmaking. Ethiopia’s introduction to film goes back to the year the French Lumiere Brothers invented the modern film camera. However to many constraints and challenges, the film industry could not grow at a higher speed. It only started to blossom particularly between 2000 and 2020, while the current situation leaves much to be desired.
According to Wikipedia, “The cinema in India consists of motion pictures made by the Indian film industry and it has had a lasting effect on world cinema since the late 20th century.” Indian cinema known as Bollywood, is now the second biggest film industry in the world by the number of films produced annually and by size of investment and turnover.
According to the same source, “China is home to the largest movie and drama production complex and film studios in the world. In 2012, the country became the second largest market in the world for box office receipt. China has also become a major hub of business for Hollywood studios.”
Iran has also a strong cinema tradition. “The cinema of Iran refers to the film industry in Iran. In particular, Iranian art films have generated international recognition. Iran has been lauded as one of the best exporters of cinema in the world in the 1990s. Some critics now rank Iran as the world’s most important national cinema, artistically with a significance that invites comparison with Italian neo-realism.”
On the other hand cinema in the United Arab Emirates started relatively late, “with a number of feature films that were broadcast on national television since the 1960s. The Dubai International film festival was founded in 2004 and continues to be held to this day.”
As indicated above, this year’s Moscow international film festival was held together with the BRICS film festival and as a result of this, over 260 films were presented for competition. According to sources, “With the BRICS film festival running at the same time as the Moscow international film festival, it was expected that more films would be presented this year. Indeed, 260 feature films, documentaries, animated, short films, and multi-part works of art were presented”
The BRICS Moscow international film festival has come to an end in Moscow on April 26 after winners have been announced by the jury. According to sources, “the BRICS film festival as part of the Moscow international film festival program has announced the winners. The film “Hajjan” directed by Abu Bakar Shawky was produced by Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan was recognized as the best.”
According to the same sources, the international jury included producer Aleksey Pimanov (chairman), South African actress Florence Masebe, Ethiopian producer Yirgashewa Teshome Amare, Chinese film critic Zhao Shuguang and the first female director of the United Arab Emirates Nayla alKhaja.”A total of seven films from Russia, China and India, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, South Africa and Iran were presented in the competition, in addition, more than 20 films were shown at the festival’s out-of-competition programs.”
The BRICS Moscow international film festival was successfully completed and one of the main highlights of the events was a discussion organized by the business program and touching on various issues impacting the film industries in BRICS countries in particular. “During the business program, participants and guests of the event discussed the peculiarities of the national film industry and distribution, intellectual property rights in the creative industries of the BRICS countries, the impacts of festivals on the possibility of entering the film market and also talked to Russian film producers about possible co-production.”
The BRICS Moscow international film festival can also send important lessons to the still nascent Ethiopian film industry that is struggling for its survival at this particular time. Economic difficulties may sometimes send the wrong message about the film industry by saying that film is a luxury item that has to be overlooked for the sake of other priorities. This is however a wrong message because many countries have practically demonstrated that the film industry in a country like Ethiopia can also developed together with the other sector of the economy as film making is basically an economic activities with great potentials for the overall development of the country.
In the some African countries like Nigeria, the film industry is one of the biggest source of foreign currency and tax revenue and a most reliable sector that is not effected either by inflation or economic crisis. Economic difficulties are no reason for the slum in film production in Ethiopia. People still go to the movies if they are offered quality films that have also great appeal and strong themes.
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. It’s 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.
The weakness of the Ethiopian film industry was evident at this year’s BRICS Moscow international film festival. All the BRIC members have presented at least one film for competition. Only Ethiopia has failed to make her presence felt at the festival with no film presented by the domestic industry. Ethiopian filmmakers could at least make their presence felt by attending the discussion forums in order to gain experience from countries that have been successful in building vibrant film industries.
Unlike in countries like Egypt or Nigeria and South Africa, the Ethiopian film industry had no solid 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.
However, in an industry that need large financial infusions for its growth, the Ethiopian film industry could no grow and thrive by producing 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.
The BRICS Moscow international film festival should serve as a clarion call to the Ethiopian film industry. Filmmakers will have to pay heed of the messages sent by this year’s festival in order to come up with something commendable next year. They have to learn from the experiences of countries that have established successful film companies. One can learn these lessons within Africa, from Nigeria to Egypt and to South Africa, lessons in filmmaking and building the film industry abound.
There are co-production potentials even in Africa provided that they come up with acceptable film scripts that can attract domestic and foreign funding. They may also secure technical assistance, visits to the various foreign studios and scholarships from film schools and training institutions. The future of the Ethiopian film industry is not dark at all. There are hopes for a comeback but these hopes should be built on realistic foundations and strong commitment from all stakeholders to make this vision a reality.
BY MULUGETA GUDETA
The Ethiopian herald May 4/2024
