German delegation calls on Information Minister

Accra, May 17, GNA - Information Minister John Tia Akologu, on Tuesday said Cabinet had approved the draft Amendment Bill to revise the Cinematography Act of 1961 to provide the machinery to streamline the film industry.

This, he said, was a major boost in government's effort to make the industry more efficient and expressed the hope that by July, this year, Parliament would have passed the bill into law.

Mr Akologu gave the hint when a three-member German delegation from the Academy of Media Arts, Cologne, paid a courtesy call to brief him on the collaboration between the Academy and the National Film and Television Institute (NAFTI) in Accra.

The Information Minister said a lot needed to be done in the film industry because of the enormous influence films had on people, and welcomed the exchange programme already started by the two institutions and noted that it would facilitate activities of NAFTI to produce well informed professionalism to boost the industry. He said: 93Your sacrifice would not be in vain" he said and gave the assurance that government would give NAFTI all the needed support.

Mr Akologu said recent public outcry on the quality of media professionals from the various training institutions was worrying and expressed the hope that the collaborative effort of the two institutions would stem the tide.

He said Ghana-German relations dates back to the 1950's and cited the role played by the Friedrich Ebert Foundation in bringing NAFTI to its present status, and the 494 million Euros debt cancellation when Ghana went HIPC some years ago.

Mr Akologu announced a 130-million euro pledge from the German Government to improve the agricultural sector and the decentralisation process, and noted that Germany's role in Ghana's development could not be overemphasised

Professor Linus Abraham, Rector of NAFTI, said the collaboration was to bring out best practices and get an affiliation with a university that could supervise it as NAFTI prepared to start a Master Degree programme in Media Arts until it finally received a charter.

He said, currently there was no institution in Ghana to supervise NAFTI and was hopeful that the collaboration would yield positive results especially in faculty development and trainer of trainees programmes.

Prof. Klaus Jung, Rector of the Academy, expressed appreciation to the Government for its pledge to support the fruitful collaboration adding that the Academy would help to improve the quality of professionals from NAFTI.