Nde Angelbert, Cameroons Youth Leader whom insight reports suggest could be running for Parliament come 2018 and fervent supporter of Christopher Formonyoh, a “rumoured” Presidential candidate in 2018 has faulted the Cameroons Government for the neglect of the Cameroons movie industry. The Cameroons movie industry is gradually growing albeit extreme difficulties. Nde Angelbert writing to BaretaNews asked some series of questions. He said:

” The problem is our government. There is no real enabling technical and financial environment. THE GOVERNMENT DOES NOT HAVE A CLEAR LAID DOWN POLICY TO HELP THE CAMEROONS MOVIE INDUSTRY TAKE OFF. And we also need more of talents, not just “hotness”. Have our youths really embraced acting? Are we having marketable talents in our movies? Is the baby industry driven by the need for a means of livelihood or the yearning for a source of enrichment or again, the simple desire to be popular at all cost? Who is called an actress or actor in Cameroon? Do they have any official status? What does it take to be one? Is it just the fact of having featured or starred in a movie or two? Is there any official platform for practitioners? Can these actors and actresses ably dedicate themselves entirely to film acting while paying their rents, feeding their families and financing their class? Can film acting sustain them or be a reliable source of livelihood within the Cameroon context? Can they be competitive if they, therefore, are compelled to handle film acting as a part-time or hobby? Do we have the state of the art infrastructure? Are our businessmen and companies prone to supporting film production?

Nde continues…………

Do we know that the government is not excited about grooming new industries that will strengthen the private sector and threaten selfish political agendas? Do we know we live in a country where Biya is seen as the only star that must shine? Who are those producing these ratings? Are there any rewards? And how inviting are they? Do we have real incentives for excellence? What is the technical aptitude of dealers in the industry? What is their measuring rod?

These are hard questions which need hard answers. BaretaNews thinks if answers are provided to these questions, a lot of change could be engineered in the Industry. He went further to provide some simple solutions.

Proposals

I advice people like Musing Derick T-Inaiz to unite the practitioners and create a syndicate as soon as possible. That syndicate will carry out reflections and make recommendations as to what the industry needs to take off. For example, no one should be allowed to act if they do not have a licence, belong to the association and pay their dues. Secondly, all films released must be visaed by the association after due procedure and upon verification of compliance requirements. etc etc. A lot can be done to help the industry take off.

BaretaNews Statement:

However, understanding the questions posed by Angelbert, we have to understand that all that Angelbert listed cannot be at the beginning. Let us take the Nigeria example- our next neighbor. Their movie industry started without any government intervention. It took the hard Actors and Actresses working day in and out to make it succeed. They used their personal clothes and equipment and casting was done with their personal resources. The government only came in recently to sanitize and monetize the sector to higher heights. This led to them forming unions to foster their interests. But that came after a long while. Therefore, BaretaNews thinks at the beginning OF Cameroons movie industry, one must not have a license to act. These are talents, I mean raw talents. In the Nigeria example, we had people acting without any formal education per say; most of them went back to school to brush up some aspects of the industry. BaretaNews thinks there is a lot our baby industry can learn from the Nigeria example, but they must not be in a rush. They must take it slowly. They must while doing so bring out the unique Cameroons identity in their movies without trying to imitate the Nigerian and Ghanaian examples. The Cameroons people too must yearn for their products. The Cameroons government cannot do all