Elba, a Golden Globe winner and chairman of IE7 and The Akuna Group, will be joined by Fiona Lamptey, former Netflix executive and co-founder of Juno Studios, as well as Andrew Kofi Egyapa Mercer, Ghana’s Minister of Tourism, Arts, and Culture, for a summit that will once again take place at the Movenpick Ambassador Hotel in Accra.
The theme is “The Relevance of Cinema in African Communities.” Organizers have announced that speakers will discuss the recent rise in local content production and consumption, ways to promote investment in cinema, and how to reimagine the cinema experience for lower-income African audiences.
Representatives from African countries such as Morocco, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, and Angola will participate, alongside executives from the African diaspora and representatives of investment organizations such as Afreximbank and the IFC.
“Africa has been at the forefront of communication and storytelling for centuries, but sadly, this innovation and the complex stories originating from the continent have largely gone unnoticed,” Elba said in a statement to Deadline this afternoon.
“So, I am thrilled to be part of this year’s African Cinema Summit, where the focus will be on how Africans, both on the continent and in the diaspora, can drive the cinema and content ecosystem to new heights and bring global awareness to our rich, dynamic, youthful, and vibrant Africa.”
The African Cinema Summit is organized by National Film Authority executives Tim Yaw Struthers, Moses Babatope, and Funmi Onuma, in collaboration with Nile Media Entertainment Group and Silverbird Cinemas.
Last year’s inaugural summit brought together representatives from 20 African countries for discussions focused on exploring and adapting cinematic opportunities to suit the unique characteristics of each region across the continent. The event led to several strategic advancements for the regional industry.
Source: Deadline
