The National Film Corporation is seeking partnership with Norway to reposition Nollywood as a tool of positive change in the society whilst exposing its practitioners to the technology and skills of the Norwegian film industry.
Dr Chidia Maduekwe, Director General of NFC, made the request during a courtesy call of Jens Kjemprud, the Ambassador of Norway to its Headquarters in Jos.
In a press release issued by Brian Etuk on Thursday in Jos, the NFC DG said he was optimistic that the partnership would horn the skills of film practitioners in Nigeria to meet global best practices.
Maduekwe said part of the partnership it seeks are exchange programmes between the two countries.
He said: “We request for exchange programmes between the National Film Institute and the Norwegian Film Institute.
“We have similarities in the film Industries of Norway and Nigeria in terms of the role they play as tools for change and social re-engineering.”
Maduekwe said the corporation as the lead regulatory government film agency was desirous in creating an enabling environment for the Nigerian film industry to compete in value with others film cultures.
He said: “Nigeria has become the next frontier in terms of global creative economy. We are developing a robust plan which includes domestic and foreign linkages that will serve as catalysts to improve the film profession.
“Our training programmes and capacity building are geared to address skills gap in the film sector through the National Film Institute.”
In his remarks, the Norwegian Ambassador said Nigeria has a large film industry employing about 100 million practitioners which in addition to the rich culture and literature of Nigeria, makes Nollywood a unique brand.
He said that the Nigerian film industry has a duty to correct the negative portrayal of the country through the development of appropriate storylines in films.
NAN reports that Norway would participate at the NFC’s annual Zuma festival in December to be held Abuja.
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