Fama to fund Malawian films

Malawian filmmakers have a reason to wear grins on their faces as Filmmakers Association of Malawi (Fama) has come to their rescue by calling for proposals for grants through the cultural support scheme.

The association will be giving to the successful filmmakers grants not exceeding K250 000.

The grant is accessible to Fama members, but non-members will have to pay a non-refundable fee of K5 000.

The eligible film makers will have to have resources of their own to match the grant and the association will need proof of resources availability.

This will be the first time that Malawi will be calling for filmmakers to access money to make films with.

In an interview, Fama president Ezaius Mkandawire said the filmmakers are free to use the association’s equipment but they will however budget for it.

“We are looking for people that will deliver quality films so, having requisite skills will be one of the areas we will look at when short-listing,” said Mkandawire.

He added that this is the first step towards founding a sustainable film industry.

“It will give us an opportunity to see if film makers can really produce films on demand and it gives us a chance to make us start to archive the films that are being made,” said Mkandawire.

Cultural Support Scheme is sponsored by the Royal Norwegian Embassy through the ministry of Tourism, Youth and Culture.