MUSICIANS ARE FILMMAKERS

When we talk about entertainment, on the whole, we have about 28 disciplines. However, most Sierra Leoneans in the country that do not understand only think about the music sector at the simplest mention of entertainment.

What is entertainment?

This is how Wikipedia defines it: Entertainment is a form of activity that holds the attention and interest of an audience or gives pleasure and delight. It can be an idea or a task but is more likely to be one of the activities or events that have developed over thousands of years specifically to keep an audience’s attention. 

Under entertainment, the discipline that stands out above all is the movie sector. This is because a huge number of people with different sorts of talents get involved in filmmaking, ranging from writers, actors, movie directors, producers, musicians, graphics designers, cameramen, make-up artists, stunt artists, marketers, etc. Even though sport comes closer to the movie-making industry, those in the film business have huge numbers with talents from different sectors, including elites with tertiary levels of education.

Let us relate to Nigeria, a West African nation that first got popularity in terms of sport (football) over the years. The sport was not able to brand the image of the country until the movie industry began selling the image of the country to the point that most Africans wanted to associate with the Nigerian way of speaking. Even the Nigerian music industry has a very long history but it did not become popular to the extent that we see today until those into the craft began making music movies (videos) to visually tell the stories of their lyrics.

The same thing goes to the USA and India, the countries that most Sierra Leoneans yearn to go to. The image of the United States and its might was sold through their movie Industry – Hollywood. The image of India was sold through Bollywood, not their music industry; because, no one would have appreciated Indian music in this part of the world if the movie industry did not exist. I can bet anybody in my argument, even though this is just literature.

Filmmaking is one of the most respectful sectors in most democracies across the world when you talk of entertainment, but in Sierra Leone, it is just the opposite. The sector has not had the accolade it deserves and that is why those involved in the craft are becoming very impatient. As filmmaking is the biggest sector in terms of entertainment, that is how it carries the highest number of people involved into entertainment. However, the industry has not been doing well in Sierra Leone due to a lot of factors ranging from bad films, poor marketing network, lack of resources, and lack of capacity in the industry to the key factor, the lack of a national film policy, including the toothless piracy act that has no good to write home about.

With all these, the industry is still striving and really gearing towards a better future especially now that the key leading bodies have decided to have a single round table to keep pushing the affairs of the craft. The two bodies, the Sierra Leone Film Council and the Sierra Leone Film Industry Labour and Marketing Guild are responsible for policy and to cater for the individuals involved, respectively. In the past, it used to be like a dog war battlefield whenever members from the leading two filmmaking bodies meet anywhere, and politicians used to take advantage of it to make excuses any time they were asked to push the craft. But they would promote one aspect of the top 12 movie genres – music, unaware that it is part of filmmaking.

See the list of the 12 top movie genres:

1. Drama
2. Comedy
3. Sci-fi
4. Horror
5. Romance
6. Thriller
7. Animation
8. Fantasy 
9. Crime
10. War
11. Music (music videos & films)
12. Documentary

Music is being singled out here because it is the only aspect that most Sierra Leoneans think of when you call the word entertainment. The lack of regard for the film industry in Sierra Leone does not only come from the public, government but also from musicians who make videos and do not seem to realize it as filmmaking.  For the sake of this discussion, let us define film or movie for a better understanding.

According to ResearchGate:

A film, also known as a “movie” or a “motion picture,” is a series of moving images shown on a screen, usually with sound, that makes up a story. The movie itself is a film, and you can also use the word to mean the photographic strip of plastic that runs through a camera and captures the film’s images. The above definition alone should make musicians highly regard filmmaking. 

Why this argument? One may ask. On the 8th of April 2021, a press release from the office of the most recent Sierra Leone’s Entertainment Ambassador, Amara Denis Turay aka Kao Denero with the list of 28 of his board members, you could only find the name of one filmmaker who in fact is not a Sierra Leonean, according to the argument that so many filmmakers put up. Even though there were other people who were filmmakers but were not listed in the capacity of filmmakers.  This caused an uproar in the movie industry before any change could happen, and it got me thinking how far it has been nursed over the years by even the filmmakers themselves.

It is in Sierra Leone that you can see filmmakers, dying to ensure the shows and events of musicians become very successful. Filmmakers will support musicians from the promotion of their songs and shows by sharing their fliers massively and putting them on their social media handles even. At times filmmakers make use of their resources just to enhance the better outcome of the events of musicians. When it comes to the filmmakers, you see the musicians covered in their egos. They don’t share the fliers of film premiers let alone step their foot at the doors of premiers.  You can see very popular and respectful filmmakers patronize musicians but they don’t do the same for the filmmakers when it is their time. You can see the fliers of Kao Denero, Starzee, Emmerson, K.Man, LAJ, Drizzilick, etc,  on the social media accounts of very popular filmmakers like Rosaline Sesay, BossLady, Martha Millicent Macauley, Ramadan K. D. Barrie,  and the host of others. Hardly will you see popular film posters on the social media handles of these musicians. Popular actors will follow them on social media; hardly will you find these musicians following those actors back. Yet they talk about showing love for the country in their songs.

What am I trying to achieve here, if you may ask? I am trying to say, the entertainment industry in Sierra Leone on the whole is struggling. And if that is so, we all need to support each other so that we all can succeed in our endeavors. Nobody should think he or she is better than the other. if such ego and behavior from musicians continue, and the filmmakers get to take note of it fully, most shows will hardly get the momentum they have been getting because no filmmaker will be attending any musician shows right across the country.  The musicians need to rethink, ”think Salone” and we all need to push our local content and talents.

To the filmmakers, If the government has nothing to offer the film industry, it is their right because we have been waiting for them. My little advice will be, we just need to turn our camera on the social ills of the country and make documentaries, drama and comedy movies about these things. We ensure we make them very professional, provoke the situation, and sit back in our chairs. The government will pay a courtesy call especially now that we are almost coming closer to the general elections. The film industry has the power to change society; it can provide better jobs and rebrand the image of the country. We can.     

By Fayia Foray

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