| What Are Our Films Going Into These Days? | | Print | |
| Written by Hdri Jun 06 |
| Friday, 25 September 2009 09:53 |
|
Hdri June 2006 Abel Meki (Translated by Meron Abraha) Recently, I spotted several times a close acquaintance of mine in the surroundings of Cinema Asmara, carrying a big backpack on one of his shoulders. “What are you working on?” I ventured. “I am producing a film.” “Since when did you start making films?” I asked in disbelief. I have known him for ten years but not once did I ever see a notion of art in him. “Writing stories that you know or heard about and then adapting it into a screenplay doesn’t really need any experience,” he answered. When I asked him how many films he had produced that far, he told me that one had been shown, another was being practiced and two others were waiting financing. The episode above is nothing else but a vivid example of how many people nowadays are drastically turning into film production. While it is an encouraging step forward to see people invest in what used to be a seemingly impenetrable field of art, one should however ponder on the reasons behind this shift of interest. Comparing it to the other fields of art, the film industry is only about a century old. But in spite of its young age, it has managed to become a highly influential field of art, encompassing all the other fields of art, hence more fascinating than stage plays or theaters. At present, apart from films, there are barely other mechanisms strong enough to be used to uphold your image, narrate your history, endorse your political power or influence, or just control the mind of others, etc… If we look at the US, the world’s superpower, in addition to being economically and militarily superior, it is also the leading nation in the entertainment industry. Owing to satellites, the Internet, DVDs and the digital media, today there is hardly a country in the world that hasn’t been bombarded with Hollywood movies. Rumors even have it that American power is stronger in Hollywood rather than the Pentagon. It would be better to evaluate our situation considering films within two extremes: the most acute weapon or the strongest shield for cultural values. Where exactly are we standing with our films? Are they having strong foundations? Can they defend against the persisting cultural ‘invasion’? Or are they exposing us further? The questions are endless. Irregardless of their themes, we need to see them from the ‘nation building’ point of view. Nation building, unlike most people believe, doesn’t only involve the material, economic or capacity building. The moral or psychological building also plays a vital role. And films, as they encompass all the other fields of art, are important for the moral building of a nation. Because no matter which highest modern technology or economy we build, we can’t secure a strong nation without proper socio-cultural, economic and political foundations. Although it requires an in-depth assessment, the direction of our films today show us only that we have still a whole lot to cover, despite the redundant media acclaims of the films as ‘best of the best.’ We can’t say that we have produced films that can actually influence the society and defend the western cultural invasion. But neither can we deny our promising beginnings. At least, commendable technological advancement has been scored. We don’t need to wait a long time to reach the highest stage where others have reached. Instead, we should take the technology and foundations they have layered and put it to our benefit, so as to increase our momentum. Yet, the challenges ahead of us are big. If we look at most of our present film producers, they seem to have misunderstood that producing films actually takes up skills and research and are just resorting to producing films as a source of income. It is now common to see money or profit oriented producers producing films that deteriorate our promising beginnings. “What really saddens me is when I hear people, whose films are only stories with cutters of unrelated events, belittle their counterparts but with more substance in their films,” told me a film producer on conditions of anonymity. Similarly, attitudes that assert romantic films are more in attractive than those portraying real history are becoming quite prominent nowadays. “It is really a shame to hear artists say that. It’s only an attempt to confuse the public and at the same time maximize your individual profits, says Yonas Teages, an artist who has so far written eight or so films about history and social life. “The main thing is not the theme but the making of the film,” he added. “The fact that Mkur Merzi (Sweet Poison) and Dagmay Hiwet (Revival), both true-story based films produced by the Mechanized Unit 74, attracted more viewers than those reflecting romance and modern glittery is a practical example,” says Yonas. Both films won the national Raymoc award. Mr. Zerai Mesgun (Wedi Feraday), prominent film producer and director, says that the basic elements, which give film production its strength, are full research and artistic creativity. “Otherwise, saying historical dramas are better than romantic films or vice versa is simply like discriminating between two ethnic groups,” he says. Wedi Feraday further said that the biggest problem is that these two elements are not reflected in most if not all of the films. When you hear that there are even people who produce three films a year, you just know that something has to be done, because, after all the damage is being inflicted to the Eritrean film industry. We Eritreans have a lot of history. And people are often heard suggesting that this history should be passed on to the next generation; but in reality, very little if any has been done so far. The concern still remains until a certain body has to claim responsibility. That concern will even grow as treasured history is lost forever with people passing away. Instead of trying to influence the society, respect and preserve the national values, films that are being produced nowadays are purely profit-oriented: deceiving the young generation with modern glittery and collect profits. And this is a dangerous threat to the national film industry. In short, the Eritrean film industry doesn’t seem to keep the momentum it had at its outset; and one of its main problems is that it has recently become a field where people with absolutely no talent or knowledge are just rummaging in. And as a result the films produced lack adequate research and artistic creativity, don’t have a strong plot, reflect improperly built characters, and so on… And the list will go on as long as someone realizes the fate of our films and comes up with an exemplary work. (Translated from Hidri Magazine No. 24, June 2006) © Copyright 2001-2005 Shaebia.org |