JAMAICANS ARE URGED TO TAP INTO THE AFRICAN FILM, MUSIC, AND OTHER CREATIVE MARKETS!

Jamaicans are being urged to look to Africa as a market for their films and other creative works. This call has come from film producer Donisha Prendergast, first grandchild of Bob and Rita Marley.

She gave the charge at a private screening of her latest project, 50 Days in Afrika, a docu-film done in collaboration with film director Mykal Kushnie (Kush Asher) and reggae-soul singer Kelissa.

“There is a market there; just create the content and Africa is waiting. We named this film because we want to instigate the conversation about Africa…it is both for education and entertainment. We just want to revisit the image of Africa. So I just want to encourage our creatives to look at Africa with an open heart. You can make money there. It is such a large untapped market waiting for content from Jamaica,” Prendergast told the gathering of friends, associates and media at the screening held at the Bob Marley Museum in St Andrew on Wednesday evening.

The call was also endorsed by Kushnie, who spoke to the vast market that Africa has and the personal ties he has made since his initial visit to Africa to shoot the film.

 “After we shot this, I went back to Kenya and was there for six months working with a local production company. In that time I worked as a director and editor for films, television series and commercials. In that area of Kenya where I was, there are about 80 TV networks and they are calling for content from Jamaica. Reggae music has opened the doors for us. So it’s time to look at our creative avenues to showcase ourselves to the world.”

50 Days in Afrika showcases the travels of the three (Kushnie, Prendergast and Kelissa) as they make their way through six African states — Ethiopia, South Africa, Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya and Tanzania, back in 2012. Their travels see them establishing creative, cultural and economic linkages with like-minded individuals in theses African states, while at the same time engaging in discussion and interaction with the likes of Femi Kuti, the eldest son of Afrobeat pioneer Fela Kuti. The film-makers also caught up with Jamaican reggae singer Tarrus Riley while on his maiden tour in Africa and showcased the connections between Africa and reggae.

The producers exhibited a 60-minute first cut of the project. However, the 90-minute feature is expected to be ready for distribution by February of next year.

“We are looking at video-on-demand platforms to distribute our film to the wider Caribbean, North America, Africa and Europe,” explained Kushnie.

“In addition to that, we will be looking at the film festival circuit as well as engaging teachers of African Studies… This is another way of speaking about Garvey and Pan Africanism,” he added.

— Richard Johnson