Nigeria, Norway to partner on film development

NIGERIA and Norway have agreed to jointly hold a Nigerian film festival in Norway annually while discussions about the development and signing of a co-production treaty between both countries will soon commence.

These were part of the decisions reached during a meeting between the Managing Director of the Nigerian Film Corporation (NFC), Dr. Chidia Maduekwe and the Ambassador of Norway to Nigeria, Jens Petter Kjemprud when the diplomat visited the NFC headquarters in Jos, Plateau State on Wednesday, June 13.

Speaking on the occasion, Ambassador Kjemprud said he was at the NFC to seek areas of partnerships and collaborations for film agencies in Norway.

The envoy noted that Nigeria had a large and robust film industry which employed about 100 million practitioners and that the country’s rich culture and literature, make Nollywood a brand for Nigeria.

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Kjemprud added that the Nigerian film industry had a duty to correct the negative portrayal of Nigeria through the development of appropriate storylines in films.

Responding, Maduekwe commended the ambassador for the visit and disclosed that the NFC was desirous of creating an enabling environment for Nigeria’s film industry to be at par with other industries.

He added that the NFC was developing a robust plan that includes domestic and foreign linkages that would boost Nigerian filmmakers.

Maduekwe said that training and capacity building to deal with skills gap in the film sector were being addressed through the National Film Institute (NFI) and called for further partnerships and exchanges between the NFI and the Norwegian Film Institute.

Other decisions reached at the meeting were the participation of Norway in the 2018 edition of the NFC- organised ZUMA Film Festival in Abuja in December and partnership between the film training institutes of both countries.