What’s trending in Africa’s filmmaking

These trends will benefit almost everyone who is involved in filmmaking – filmmakers, crew, content platforms, fans, and ultimately the audiences who get to enjoy the movies.

Artificial intelligence and machine learning offer many opportunities to improve the filmmaking process.

Many viewers are familiar with AI-generated video imagery. This will continue to grow, especially in the area of special effects, or for creating environments. However, viewers still react to the human engagement of real actors, so characters will likely continue to be portrayed by real humans.

Much of the contribution of AI will also come in the area of screenplay analysis, helping to create more impactful, entertaining scripts. AI can also improve production scheduling, and help generate mood boards and storyboards during the early production stages.

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It can also be used to stimulate the brainstorming process, and eventually to automate the editing phase. These applications are time-savers and efficiency boosters that will help emerging filmmakers make films more easily and help bring more voices into the sector.

The real game-changer, for the film and audiovisual industry, and which is expected to continue, especially in Africa, is the ongoing digital revolution, which started some 20 years ago and was accelerated by the Covid-19 pandemic.

The arrival of new, affordable and light-weight digital film equipment on the continent has ushered in a new era of filmmaking. Young Africans are suddenly able to access production resources for audiovisual content. Digital film technology has progressed so much that it has now become possible to shoot a cinema-quality video on a smartphone.

According to a 2021 Unesco report, there are 816 million mobile SIM connections in Sub-Saharan Africa (77 percent penetration rate) and 712 million in the Middle East and North Africa (116 percent penetration rate).

In several African countries, the digital economy is becoming one of the main drivers of growth, accounting for more than five percent of GDP. The film and audio-visual industry in Africa has the potential to create over 20 million jobs and generate $20 billion in revenues per year, according to the same report.

Particularly when telling fantasy, sci-fi or spiritual stories, it is useful to be able to create immersive, virtual film sets that place characters in an otherworldly environment. New technology employs entire walls consisting of tiny LED lights, which means almost any environment can be created digitally.

Another useful technology is real-time rendering, a type of computer graphics that analyses and produces images in real-time. When combined with technologies such as LED walls, real-time 3D rendering allows actors to interact with the render as it is developed. This opens up a world of creative possibilities for filmmakers.

This trend has long been part of the African film tradition. Homegrown film platforms draw audiences of millions, who respond passionately to authentic, hyperlocal stories that they can relate to.

These might be dramas that reflect real-world community dynamics, thrillers that evoke real human fears, or cultural practices that are part of viewers’ everyday lives.

Globally, audiences are also coming to demand more diverse and authentic representation in content and filmmaking. This is likely to create opportunities for African filmmakers and African films, as content from the continent reflects rich human experiences that are sure to appeal to wider audiences.

Carbon emissions are a major international concern, as the reality of climate change becomes more obvious. Filmmaking has its own part to play in working to minimise emissions through its operations.

One of the most effective ways to achieve more sustainable filmmaking is by minimising transport and logistics operations. That can be achieved by sourcing cast, crew, and support services from local communities where movies are filmed.

Developing skilled African film professionals is therefore the most effective way to achieve sustainable filmmaking on the continent. This process is well underway, through institutions like the MTF Academies – in Lagos, Nairobi and Lusaka – which develop TV and film talent through fully-funded, accredited training programmes.

These trends will continue reshaping the film industry, but also the experience of film. While it is difficult to predict exactly what films will look like in the future, it is inevitable that the best films will be richer, more easily – but more elegantly – produced, making a bigger social impact.

The writer is the Managing Director, Multichoice Kenya