As we mentioned in our report on cinema in French-speaking Africa, training future talent in the film industry remains a real challenge for local production. In addition to creating infrastructure and online education, private actors are supporting training to contribute to the development of careers in the audiovisual and film industries.
Read also: Cinema in French-speaking Africa – training
CANAL+ International, which is stepping up its initiatives in this area, has officially launched CANAL+ University to provide professional training for audiovisual professionals in Africa.
This initiative aims to encourage skills transfer on the African continent in the media sector. Journalists, directors, editors, and other members of Canal+ International's production teams will travel to Africa for practical sessions. Professional trainers work on Canal+'s flagship programs in Africa, such as Bonjour Santé, Réussite, and Talents d'Afrique.
Encouraged by the great success of Afrique au Féminin in Abidjan (Ivory Coast) and the film and television training courses held in Bamako (Mali) and Cotonou (Benin) in early 2019, Canal+ International wants to go further and make Canal+ University a traveling training center in African cities.
To officially launch Canal+ University, Libreville (Gabon) and Brazzaville (Congo) have been selected to host the first workshops next June. Joëlle Edédéghé Ndong and Charles Mbuya, two of Canal+'s star journalists in Africa, led the workshops. Joëlle Edédéghé Ndong, a Gabonese journalist and reporter who hosts the program Bonjour Santé, delivered training on writing and presentation techniques to 20 Gabonese participants during the Sambas Professionnels in Libreville from June 5 to 8. Charles Mbuya, a Canal+ sports journalist and presenter of Talents d'Afrique, was in Brazzaville from June 3 to 8 to prepare 15 journalists from Télé Congo's sports program production department to commentate on a sporting event ahead of the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations.
The ultimate goal of Canal+ University is to train African journalists, producers, and directors to offer programs in different formats that can be exported outside the continent. Canal+ International wants to help structure the sector. The 35 participants in these first two Canal+ University sessions will each receive a certificate attesting to their increased skills. "We are committed to working with local film and audiovisual professionals in Africa. Canal+ International is a partner of African talent, and we are doing everything we can to offer them as many opportunities as possible," says Grace Loubassou, Head of Institutional Relations Africa at Canal+ International, who is leading the project.
Canal+ in Africa has already provided more than 15,000 hours of training over the past two years on the continent through partnerships with production companies and national television channels. This initiative will be replicated in several other countries on the continent.
Source: press release