In a statement issued to the press on Wednesday, 6 June 2007, FEPACI said that the FRU has been a strategic distribution partner and possesses a critical mass of films of all genres from a wide ranging community of African filmmakers:
“The relationship FRU has had with FEPACI has brought meaning and relevance and measurable distribution results. South African audiences have been able to see documentaries and feature films coming from various parts of the continent and this happened through direct intervention by FRU.
“FRU made inroads into building relationships with the various mass of African Film-makers through frequent visits to the FESPACO, where meetings with FEPACI members helped FRU design alternative distribution channels that functioned differently from conventional commercial distribution. These meetings were initiated by the late Richard Ishmael, whose visionary approach and commitment to an alternative approach of the distribution of African films remains unique and his methods hailed for their inventiveness, continued the statement.”
According to FEPACI, Ishmael was not just an ordinary distributor lured into the industry by the money and power cultural products potentially have; he was a distributor with a political and economic agenda who understood that distribution was the basis for economic empowerment. “FRU recognises the moral right, responsibility, power and control filmmakers have over their films which is their intellectual property and that is what makes FRU a unique attraction to the majority of African filmmakers. We have, this year, been forced by unnatural and unexpected circumstances to bid farewell to the tragic passing of Richard Ishmael, it would be even sadder and painful for us to bid farewell to the closure of FRU as well.”
FRU has always focused its commitment to development, said FEPACI. It has shared its vision with FEPACI of wanting to establish a distribution training centre that has a film library too. This vision potentially makes FRU a catalyst in creating opportunities for skills development and a concrete knowledge base regarding this particular sector.
FRU also shared its intentions of encouraging the establishment of similar FRU structures to be installed in other regions to encourage greater synergy, skills exchange and trade exchange with the aim of creating viable distribution networks within regions. FRU also shared its aim of converting all its films to a digital medium for ease of distribution. Again, this would be a strategic response to a digital world of film and the best formula used world wide to open films to new markets, raising options and opportunity for wider audience penetration.
FRU has long been working at building meaningful partnerships with public, private broadcasters within regions including fraternal relations with various embassies. FRU, as the lead distributor of African films, has a catalogue of approximately 800 films acquired from across the continent. The aggregation of content is a tedious process that happens over time, where there is material and financial implications; the sudden collapse of such an important platform has serious ramifications long term and will not only impact the morale of film-makers but also impair progress regarding viable alternative platforms of the distribution of African films.
It is the understanding of FEPACI that numerous historical factors have led to the current financial insolvency and possible liquidation of FRU. Among these are
FEPACI has also been made to understand that FRU is in the process of implementing several key distribution, exhibition and training programmes, for which funding has been secured from stakeholders including:
Although some of the above funders and partners have committed to continuing to fund the above projects, FRU cannot use the funds secured for these projects to settle the debt of almost R3 million resulting from the above motioned factors.
FEPACI appeals for support and calls on the relevant institutions in South Africa, including the National Film and Video Foundation, and the Department of Arts and Culture, to take the lead and intervene to help FRU come out of this unfortunate situation and to seek remedial measures required to normalise the current situation. It calls for an immediate probe and investigation of the causes of the current state of affairs at FRU and anticipate out of the investigation an outcome that will encourage proper accountability and management of the organisation in line with good corporate governance and practice.
“FRU is a legacy project that had given South Africa an opportunity to partner and collaborate with the rest of Africa. Film-makers such as Haile Gerima, Cheick Oumar Sissoko, Idrissa Ouedraogo and others continue to give their full support to FRU. FRU is not only there as an alternative option to commercial distribution but is also there as a political, ideological platform that creates a sense of pride and resonance that Africa can stand by itself and can initiate, own and control instruments of change and transformation,” concluded the statement.
