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Speech at the Film and Video Seminar
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Speeches and Media Releases
 Sports, Arts Culture

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 EASTERN CAPE PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENT
 SPEECH BY MEC BALINDLELA
AT THE FILM AND VIDEO SEMINAR
 30 JANUARY 2001

1. INTRODUCTION

Master of Ceremonies, honoured guests, ladies and gentlemen thank you for descending upon this resort in response to the clarion call by 
the Department of Sport, Recreation, Arts and Culture. We have extended a kind invitation to you to come and assist the Department in its 
endeavours to formulate with the people of the Province of the Eastern Cape a coherent strategy for film and television. Amongst us today 
we have the National Department of Arts, Culture, Science and Technology, the National Department of Finance, the Departments of Arts and 
Culture of other Provinces, the Provincial Department of Economic Affairs and Tourism, representatives of the print and electronic media, 
cultural officers from the Department and stakeholders of arts and culture who represent the forty-one (41) districts of the Province of 
the Eastern Cape.

2. THE CULTURAL INDUSTRIES GROWTH STRATEGY

Master of ceremony, ladies and gentlemen, we all recognize that the rich and diverse cultural heritage of the Province of the Eastern Cape 
has the capacity to generate socio-economic benefits for the people of this Province.

In February 2000, the Department of Sport, Recreation, Arts and Culture organized a Cultural Industries Growth Strategy Seminar, which was 
held at Settlers Monument in Grahamstown. The seminar, focused on formulation of a strategy for implementation of the Cultural Industries 
Growth Strategy (CIGS). Subsequent to that seminar, a broad range of activities, which focused on stimulation of growth in the industries 
of music, craft and publishing. We set in motion the training of composers, instrumentalists and choirs that was carried out with the 
Universities of Port Elizabeth and Rhodes. Empowerment of crafters was carried out in partnership with the National Arts Council, Dakawa 
and the SDI programme. The publishing industry was stimulated by close co-operation with the Eastern Cape Provincial Arts and Culture 
Council, which recently focused on "Women in Writing".

Chairperson, ladies and gentlemen, in line with the provincial priority of job creation and building the economy of the Province, we have 
invited you to this seminar to help us develop the fourth focus area of the Cultural Industries Growth and Development Strategy, namely: 
the Film and Television Industry.

3. THE PROVINCE OF THE EASTERN CAPE

The Province of the Eastern Cape boasts of a rich and diverse cultural heritage; a reservoir of talented human resources; a history of 
human habitation over hundreds of thousands of years, a history of frontier wars between colonialists and black people in the 19th century, 
the rich Khoisan heritage, the beautiful scenery of meandering rivers and ranges of mountains, the Wild Coast with the beautiful people and 
vast range of flora and fauna; a vast range of ethnic groups that constitute a fine tapestry cultural of heritage and last but not the 
least the rich history and legacy of the struggle for liberation in South Africa (Archives at Fort Hate).

Our Province is free from Malaria, it is a home for a range of sporting activities to name a few: boxing, fishing, bird watching, game 
hunting, hiking, sailing, surfing and many other indigenous games. The heritage sites, e.g. graves of kings and queens; historical 
educational institutions, mission towns and indigenous settlements, are a source of interest to tourists.

Over and above this, the Department of Sport, Recreation, Arts and Culture continues to promote and develop Sport and Recreation, Arts and 
Culture, Museums and Heritage Resources, Libraries and Archives, with the aim of enriching and enhancing the socio-political-economic life 
of the people of the Eastern Cape.

Chairperson, ladies and gentlemen, it is against this backdrop that the Film and Broadcasting Seminar was conceptualised.

The Department of Sport, Recreation, Arts and Culture are convinced that the Province has the capacity to attract film-makers from the 
international community. It also has the potential to produce films of national and international renown such as Cry Freedom, kwaZidenge, 
and Shaka Zulu.

4. THE FILM AND TELEVISION INDUSTRY

The Province of the Eastern Cape acknowledges and recognizes the socio-politico-economic significance of the Film and Television Industry.

The Industry will make a significant contribution towards shaping the values and morals of our society. It will play a significant role in 
inculcating the values of "Ubuntu" and dissemination of the ideals of non-racialism, non-sexism and democracy of the present social order. 
In this age of information explosion it can be a medium for dissemination of a vast range of information and nation building ideas.

Secondly, the industry will assist us in our province by providing a forum for constructive debates and deliberations and the dissemination 
of community-building information, through a medium that is fascination to both young and old.

Thirdly the industry will make a profound impact on the economic development of our province. We would like to see this industry 
contributing to job creation and reducing the level of unemployment. We would like to see film and television generating jobs directly for 
the people of the Eastern Cape through production and post production companies, through casting and crewing agencies, equipment hiring 
companies, set design and manufacturing companies and prop suppliers.

We would like to see the people of the Eastern Cape benefiting from jobs that are created indirectly in supporting industries such as the 
hospitality industry (catering companies, bed and breakfasts and hotels) and the transport industries (taxis, busses and cartage 
contractors).

5. THE SEMINAR

We therefore make an appeal to all the speakers in the seminar, the discussants of the papers presented, all the stakeholders present to 
help us find solutions to the challenges that face the industries in our Province:

* Lack of provincial policy on film, video and television,
* Limited or lack of skills in this sphere,
* Little or no access finance for budding film makers,
* Insufficient audiences in cinemas, etc.
* Lack of education and training facilities for producers, scriptwriters and directors of films,
* Challenges faced by both internal and external markets,
* Co-ordination of the industry provincially and nationally and
* Transformation of the industry so that the previously marginalized can also benefit.
* Marginalization of the disabled in filming
* Vibrate energy in languages indigenous

6. CONCLUSION

We thank the national government for the creation of the National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF), which has the mandate of promotion and 
development of the indigenous film and television industry in South Africa. We look forward to seeing the province benefiting from the 
expertise and guidance of the Foundation.

We trust that our Provincial Arts and Culture Council will in the interim take the challenge of linking with the Foundation in the process 
of developing the Film and Television Industry in our Province.

The Province of the Eastern Cape looks forward to the next Sithengi International Southern African Film and Television market. With the 
training programmes that will be set in motion by this seminar, we hope to be able to carve a niche in the Film and Television Industry for 
the people of the Eastern Province. The Sithengi will therefore offer us an opportunity for networking and making deals with national and 
international film-makers on behalf of our Province.

Chairperson, ladies and gentlemen, on behalf of the government of the Eastern Cape I wish you fruitful deliberations which will come out 
with clear strategies of prioritising the development of the film and television industry in our friendly Province of the Eastern Cape.

I thank you.

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