James Kamara-Manneh
After gaining power in 2018, the Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) under the dynamic leadership of President Julius Maada Bio, the film industry has had reasons to change its trajectory.
Previously, the industry was under a life-saving machine but with the swift intervention of the Bio led government to resuscitate the industry, attention and recognition have been brought to the Solly wood industry.
The film industry is pinned on empowering, engaging and creating platforms for Sierra Leonean actors and actresses to thrive.
The industry is poised to have multiplier effects on the economy ranging from education, entertainment, fashion, and entrepreneurship among others.
The role and support of the First Lady Madam Fatima Bio who has a successful actress career in the African Film Industry should not be underestimated.
Her stardom as one of the elegant Nollywood actresses, scriptwriters and executive producers, has brought in that touch of passion, zest, knowledge and above all, expertise into the industry.
Over the years, the industry has been able to attain certain set goals, one of which is political support.
However, in 2018 the President made a fervent commitment to promoting the creative industry, reviewing the piracy act and helping erect studios for music and film production and an auditorium for musical shows and screening of films. Successfully, the Copyright Act was passed in Parliament signalling the repeal of the Copyright Act of 1965.
The passing of the new Act signals a new dawn for recording artists and the film industry in Sierra Leone.
On the other hand, the eloquent and erudite Minister of Information, Mr. Mohamed Rahman Swaray recently held a consultative engagement with Sierra Leonean Film-Stars, Directors and other stakeholders in the film industry with the general objective of crafting a planned policy that will turn Sierra Leone into a unique film destination and also to produce a draft policy after their consultation.
In that engagement, the Sierra Leone Film Industry, Labour and Marketing Guilds’ Public Relations Officer, Abubakarr Conteh, stated that as filmmakers they act because it is a way to express themselves.
According to him the creativity of film-making has enhanced a strain of richness, diversity and service as a foundation through sustainable development based on the 2030 agenda, as a source of economic empowerment, and creativity, and also contributes to inclusive employment and enterprising opportunities in cultural and creative industries.
While a Female director in Sierra Leone, Mariama Bah, welcomed the enhancement of the policy and further responded that the same opportunities given to foreign filmmakers should also be given to Sierra Leone film-makers to access public structures to shoot their films and financial grant to boost production.
Minister of Information and Communication, Abdulrahman Rado Swaray in his exciting mood and affirmation, revealed that President Bio’s vision and mission also stress the relevance of the entertainment industry, especially in film production noting that it is important to be transformed to have its desired impact to those involved and the people of Sierra Leone.
Minister Swaray informed participants that through his engagement and initiative from other partners, he was able to receive a grant of fifty million dollars ($50m) to cushion the resource constrains on the film industry.
He further assured members of the Sierra Leone Film Guild and representatives of other pressure groups in the Film Industry, fondly referred to as Solly wood, that a recently developed Policy on the film industry in Sierra Leone will now be given the green light by Government and an enactment process commenced after the policy is reviewed.
In his response, Mr Edward Kargbo, a senior Film Industry executive, said this has never happened in the history of this country and that this government will go down in history as the first Government to have a Film Act enacted in Parliament.
He thanked the Minister for his unflinching support of the whole process and promised that they will do everything to ensure the policy is properly reviewed and presented for subsequent submission to Cabinet by the Minister and final approval for it to be laid before Parliament.
The film industry in Africa has had its shortcomings since it was established; while other African states are reaching the apex of entertainment others such as Sierra Leone are crawling slowly to catchup with other countries.
Critiques will say Sierra Leone’s Film industry is gradually taking off but at a very snail pace because it has not been rosy indeed.
In Sierra leone People were so obsessed with theatre but later there was a diversion to film acting. During such times we saw the emergence of groups such as Eastern filmmakers, film Guilds, etc., paving the way for many films to be shot in Sierra Leone.
Amongst the prominent ones were Blood Diamonds, Amistad, Cry Freetown, Kamara’s Tree, and now Fatima a blockbuster movie that will soon hit the market.
To date, it is evidenced that most of those organizations are no longer in existence and the many in-fights in the Film industry have worn out goodwill and entrenched self-interest. This is not only due to bad production but hugely lies in bad leadership from one leading generation to the other.
With the birth of the film unions between 2010 to late 2012; some good organizations within the western urban area had already been in existence. The in-fight did not stop between the Sierra Leone Film Industry Labor and Marketing Guild and the then Film Federation. It later catapulted to a very higher height.
It was after the emergence of the Film Union that the filmmakers became hungry for success, they tried to pitch tent with a personal film producer which they thought could have helped out the situation. A twist to this was the emergence of movie productions, movie directors and crew members.
Thus, indications are that Sierra Leone Film/Entertainment Industry could hardly make contributions to the state economy, even with the support from international partners and other sources its relevance is yet to be felt locally and internationally.
In curtailing the many issues derailing the progress and successes of the industry, the office of the Entertainment Ambassador in collaboration with the Sierra Leone Film Council in April 2022 organized a Film Festival to have all entertainers on board.
Representing the Sierra Leone Entertainment industry, director Aaih M. Momoh, Co-Chair of the Sierra Leone Film Council and also a member of the Sierra Leone Entertainment Board lay bare the challenges facing the industry.
Firstly, the Film Council is an umbrella body for filming in Sierra Leone that liaises between the Government and the rest of the industry. It is also a policy-making body.
Under the Film Council, we have a body called the Film Guild; they are responsible for the day-to-day activities of the Film Industry.
Director Momoh happens to be a member of that structure as a board member, while Kao Denero was appointed as the Entertainment Ambassador by the present government. It is an entertainment body that is set up by the Government to be in charge of entertainment. So, the Film Industry is directly under the Entertainment Board.
The program is aimed to put the Sierra Leone Film industry in tandem with that of Hollywood, Bollywood, and Nollywood which are internationally acclaimed. In the past ten years, it is evidenced that the industry is growing with good film products, pictures are good, and sound and streaming are becoming standardised.
“We have too many bad films in comparism to good films. So in a platform like this, we showcase the good ones and encourage those in the business doing bad films to see the need to upgrade or to up their games”, Director Momoh said.
The reason for poor film shooting in Sierra Leone is as a result of not having proper structures to control the type of films that comes out. That is why the Film Industry is pushing for a film policy. With the film policy, there will be the Censorship Board that is charged with the mandate to make sure scripts are vetted before production. The board will comprise of professionals from all works of life that will understand and portray the Sierra Leonean culture.
Film production goes with standard cameras, good sound gadgets, and state-of-the-art equipment, but if there is no strong financial support from the central government such industry will continue to be struggling.
On the other hand, the challenges crippling the Sierra Leone Film industry are enormous and that has dampened its growth. Firstly, there are no structures that would direct production from the start of development to the marketing and distribution chain.
Secondly, lack of Legislative Acts or Policies that would govern entertainment in the country. While the Ministry of Tourism and the Ministry of Information are working tooth and nail to make things work, the Film industry is also putting measures in place that will curtail the encroachment of foreign country’s industries to include them while shooting a movie in any location within Sierra Leone. By so doing they will not just seek curry favours from the government leaving the indigence with no opportunities from the central governance.
Next, the industry lacks the oil to move all its parts which are poor financing. Entertainment is money. Other nations have moved from entertainment to Show Bees, but the Solly wood industry is still struggling to stand.
Lack of technical state-of-the-art equipment. Importers fail to bring modernised standard filming equipment. Using such materials will affect the country’s progress in the filming aspect as you cannot upload files from Sierra Leone on Netflix due to several criteria.
The Future of Solly Wood will soon be attracted to Sierra Leonean-foreign base actors and actresses such as Idris Elba, Archie Collins Pierce, Adeyemi Lardner alias Iron Master, Princess Josephine Sesay, and Winstina Taylor. The writer believes that if these teams of actors and producers work on projects together, they will change the scene of the Sierra Leone movie industry in the diaspora and locally.
In the next five years of President Bio’s regime, right-minded people will not wish to read any of these challenges in any form or medium because Sierra Leone is ready to hit the international entertainment market, while its contribution to the country’s GDP will not only be realized but will be felt.
