Team picked to fix dip in filmmaking

Dar es Salaam. The government is scrutinising why film making industry is not benefitting the country through advertising its tourist attractions.

Currently, film makers show little interest in Tanzania partly due to claimed bureaucracy, legal framework and lack of incentives, some stakeholders have said.

Speaking after the stakeholders meeting to discuss challenges facing the film making industry in Tanzania, Natural Resources and Tourism Permanent Secretary Adolf Mkenda said the efforts they are making are aimed at removing barriers causing poor utilisation of film making in advertising the country’s tourist attractions.

The stakeholders meeting was also attended by the acting permanent secretary in the Ministry of Information, Culture, Arts and Sports, Dr Ally Possi, deputy Natural Resources and Tourism permanent secretary Dr Aloyce Nzuki, officials from the Tanzania Film Board (TFB) and the Tanzania Tourist Board (TTB).

Speaking to The Citizen after the meeting, Prof Mkenda said a committee has been formed to coordinate scrutiny of the challenges facing film makers and propose solutions that will see tourism fully benefitting from film making.

“Tanzania has many tourist attractions including Serengeti and Ngorongoro national parks that are widely known. But, other attractions are less known,” he said.

“This is an area that we must exploit to advertise our attractions. There won’t be any cost on the side of the country using film making industry. Once we exhaust it is when we can incur expenses to further advertise our attractions,” he added.

He argued that the country should cut bureaucracy in provision of permits, noting that the Immigration Department, security organs and the Tanzania Revenue Authority should all cooperate more as a team.

“Country’s security is of paramount importance, but permits shouldn’t be delayed to film makers once security issues have been cleared,” he observed.

According to him, other countries spent advertising budgets to sign contracts with football teams to advertise their attractions, noting that however, film making opportunities should be exploited.

Prof Mkenda said using international film makers can help reach tourist markets of countries like the US, Germany, China and Australia.

He said the select committee’s final proposals would be tabled before the responsible ministers for further deliberations.

He said Tanzania earned $2.4 billion from 1.5 million tourists who visited the country last year with only 500,000 spending their leaves in the country.

According to him, Tanzania spent Sh400 million on the Swahili International Tourism Expo (SITE), over Sh360 million during the Southern Corridor exhibitions in Iringa and over Sh500 million on the Berlin exhibitions.

“We also spent a lot during our visit in China and Israel. We are now heading to Russia. We don’t want to completely avoid spending on advertisements, but other costless opportunities should be explored and fully utilised first,” he noted.

According to him, Tanzania has 22 national parks, but Serengeti, Kilimanjaro, Tarangire, Manyara and Arusha were the most profitable including providing dividend to the government.

Impeccable sources told The Citizen that it was time legal frameworks were scrutinised, as they could be the reason film makers are not interested in Tanzania.

“The law requires that row footages should be left with the government and that final products should be used after prior consent of the country, this discourages film makers considering of copyright issues,” said the sources, adding that no incentive are given currently.

Recently, Kenyan leader Uhuru Kenyatta approved a plan to entice international filmmakers, most notably Hollywood producers to Kenya that does away with prohibitive costs that have driven potential business away from the country.

The decision came after Kenya’s cabinet approved immediate implementation of film incentive package in the country’s measure to boost its position as the film destination of choice in Africa.

The incentives include “one-stop-shop” approach to licence approvals, tax concessions and waivers of various levies for personnel and equipment are expected to encourage both local and international filmmakers to use locations in Kenya for their productions.