{"id":86142,"date":"2023-03-29T12:27:47","date_gmt":"2023-03-29T12:27:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africannewspaper.net\/2023\/03\/29\/senegal-film-industry-aims-for-blockbuster-impact-african-business\/"},"modified":"2023-03-29T12:27:55","modified_gmt":"2023-03-29T12:27:55","slug":"senegal-film-industry-aims-for-blockbuster-impact-african-business","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africannewspaper.net\/2023\/03\/29\/senegal-film-industry-aims-for-blockbuster-impact-african-business\/","title":{"rendered":"Senegal film industry aims for blockbuster impact – African Business"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Within the bustling metropolis of Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, a just lately erected statue of Ousmane Semb\u00e8ne towered over the crowds visiting the Pan-African Movie and Tv Pageant in early March. The statue (pictured above<\/em>) was unveiled to mark the centenary of Semb\u00e8ne\u2019s delivery and portrays the legendary Senegalese filmmaker in his trademark cap, smoking his pipe with a contemplative gaze.<\/p>\n

Semb\u00e8ne\u2019s legacy looms massive over African cinema. His distinctive model of utilizing social realist narratives in his movies, which he discovered on the famend Gorky Movie Studio in Moscow, has influenced generations of Senegalese filmmakers, who at this time tour probably the most prestigious movie festivals worldwide.<\/p>\n

Amongst these are Alain Gomis, whose movie F\u00e9licit\u00e9<\/em> gained the Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize on the Berlin Movie Pageant in 2017, and Mati Diopwhosefilm Atlantics<\/em> gained the Grand Prix on the Cannes Movie Pageant in 2019, when it was the primary movie directed by a black girl to be offered on the competitors.<\/p>\n

However regardless of worldwide acclaim, the Senegalese movie trade has not managed to achieve the business heights of different nations. In contrast to Nigeria\u2019s Nollywood, which is now the world\u2019s second-largest movie trade after Hollywood, valued at $6.4bn in 2022, Senegalese movies wrestle to seek out an viewers at dwelling and generate poor revenues via ticket gross sales.<\/p>\n

In keeping with a 2016 research by the Worldwide Organisation of Francophonie, the Senegalese audio-visual sector\u2019s turnover amounted to $32.8m, of which roughly $13m comes from TV adverts. As such its contribution to the bigger financial system continues to be very restricted.<\/p>\n

Why is it that Senegal, with a longstanding custom of iconic filmmakers like Semb\u00e8ne, and a plethora of movies offered in festivals worldwide yearly, nonetheless struggles to determine a thriving cinema trade?<\/p>\n