BUJUMBURA, May 28 (ABP) – The development of the Burundian film industry is progressing well despite the lack of understanding from investors and the lack of support. This was stated by Fiston Haragiramungu, filmmaker, director, and managing director of BMT (Burundian Movies and Talents), during an interview with a check by ABP last week.
According to him, one cannot compare Burundian cinema with that of other countries because Burundian cinema has not yet reached the international level. He further indicates that in other countries, investors, governments, and television stations support the film industry, whereas in Burundi filmmakers manage with their limited resources, which explains the low quality of Burundian films.
Despite this financial challenge, this artist points out that filmmakers are happy with the progress made because, he explained, since 2012 cinema was perceived in Burundi as the domain of delinquents and poorly educated people, but today, film enthusiasts are beginning to take an interest and filmmakers manage to earn money through this field and support their families.
To bring Burundian cinema to the international level, this filmmaker calls for government involvement in this sector, as it often engages in other fields like sports. He also recalls that worldwide, cinema is among the sectors that bring in foreign currency, and by investing in it, the country could address its shortage of foreign exchange.
He criticizes the behavior of Burundian television stations that broadcast Burundian films for almost nothing, which hampers the local film industry. They believe that broadcasting a Burundian film is promoting the filmmaker and suppose that promotion alone is enough, which is not the case.
“Television stations sell our content. In return, they should pay for the broadcast of this content; but it’s not the case,” laments Haragiramungu, adding that other television stations like AZAM TV pay more than 300 dollars per minute of film broadcast, while in Burundi even those who think about paying do not exceed 5 dollars.
This filmmaker also notes that some television stations broadcast films from a single person or a minority of filmmakers for two or three years, which ends up, according to him, discouraging film enthusiasts.
He recommends equal access to television for all filmmakers in order to encourage them, having taken into account a technical analysis of their content, to see if their films truly deserve to be broadcast on television.
Regarding the market for selling their cinematic works, this filmmaker and directing expert indicates that the only market for selling films and other audiovisual content in Burundi remains platforms like YouTube, Facebook, and TikTok. The challenge is the lack of licensing of these platforms in Burundi, which makes monetization difficult.
“We manage to earn more than 1000 euros, depending on the number of views and subscribers on these platforms, but when it comes to withdrawal, we only get about 400 or 600 euros due to the lack of licensing,” he laments, calling on the Burundian government to seek to sign licensing agreements with these platforms to avoid this loss.
Regarding participation in international competitions and festivals and the sale of films abroad, Haragiramungu states that Burundian filmmakers are reluctant to submit their productions to the international market for fear that they will not be well rated due to their low quality.
They therefore prefer to sell them on social platforms that require fewer resources, which is, according to them, a sure way to earn dividends instead of turning to the international market, which demands a lot of resources that will not be guaranteed to be recovered.
Furthermore, he explains, equipment to produce films of quality meeting international standards is lacking. Burundian filmmakers still use classic cameras and other audiovisual production equipment. Such images cannot be broadcast on major distribution companies like Netflix and Canal+ because these companies require high-quality images, and this represents a challenge for the development of Burundian cinema.
To contribute to the development of the Burundian film sector, filmmaker Haragiramungu calls on his fellow filmmakers to take cinema seriously and do everything possible for its advancement by educating themselves and traveling to gain experience. He also calls on the state to support this sector and on film lovers to always support local filmmakers by watching their works, subscribing to their YouTube channels, and sharing them so that they can generate income through the monetization of these channels.