Canon Central and North Africa, a subsidiary of Canon Global, under its strategic partnership with National Film and Television Institute  (NAFTI) on Monday opened a week intensive training workshop for film makers and photographers in Accra.

The 80 participants which included some top industry players, students, and amateur photographers are expected to go through topics such as: ‘Introduction to Filmmaking & Filmmaking Cameras’, ‘Shooting for Stills vs shooting for Video’, ‘Grammar of Filmmaking’, ‘Controlling & Changing Screen and Direction’, ‘External Elements’, and concludes with a ‘Practical Assessment'.

Dr. Nai, (right) interacts with Katie Simmonds

Dubbed Canon-NAFTI Film  Excellence Program, Canon's three-year partnership with the country's premium film making institution which was started in 2016 has trained hundreds of film and photography professionals.

The Program was aimed at strengthening the knowledge capacity of skills of Ghana’s Creative Arts professional talents in film and photography industry, it also seeks to create a rewarding career opportunities for them locally and internationally.

Apart from the main workshop schedules, there is going be special sessions which will be on ‘Canon Twambako’ (street Photography) focusing on commercial Street Photography will include a photography challenge in the streets of Accra which the best image was taken by the participants will stand to win a prize.

The session will also include a Selphy workshop to demonstrate how easy and efficient it is to print anywhere, anytime and even on the go.

Katie Simmonds, Business Development Manager of Canon Central and North Africa delivers her speech

One of the sessions most of the participants do not want to miss is the one that discusses Canon’s latest imaging product and technologies including, filmmaking with the new EOS 5D Mark IV DSLR, 4K resolution with Canon, C100 Mark II camera and Canon’s latest technology for extreme low light video, XA30 camera and live streaming of events and understanding High Dynamic Range.

During the week, Canon will also provide additional equipment for practical production work by NAFTI students. Canon believes this will help students to familiarize film makers and photographers in Ghana with the cutting-edge professional technology used internationally, including Canon’s latest affordable technology in imaging and their capabilities.

With Canon’s corporate philosophy of ‘Kyosei”, meaning ‘living and working together for the common good,’ the company continues to maintain its strong growth and prosperity in the region through new business initiatives while also promoting CSR  activities.

Speaking during the opening ceremony, Rector of NAFTI, Dr. Samuel Nai, said the workshop is timely and appropriate considering that this kind of photographic education is key to nurturing emerging local talent and enhancing the knowledge of faculty in the Institute.

"We note with satisfaction that the partnership with Canon will enable students and industry players to interact, from time to time, with resource people who have a wide range of professional experience.

NAFTI’s support for such Canon workshops, we believe, will ultimately help in improving the professional knowledge of cinematography in Ghana’s still evolving film industry,” he said.

He praised the management of Canon for their contribution to the development of the Film and Photography industry.

Channel Manager of Omanfofor, Pastor George Mingle, country representative for Canon promised a closer collaboration between his company and photographers.

He urged Photographers to unite in order to enable the company to know how they can help them since many Ghanaian photographers have realized the quality of Canon equipment.

Participants in the film and movie production are led by renown Ghanaian photographer, Rodney Quarcoo who is the only Ghanaian among the Canon trainers, promised to take participants through modern techniques of making.

He said participants will be on locations to film and present their production at the end of the training.

In late 2014, Canon has launched the Miraisha sustainability program which is aimed at building the capacity and skills of people in the Africa countries in which we operate through our imaging heritage, leveraging the company’s advanced technologies strengths.

The program helps to support people to develop livelihood in professional photography or print.

To date, through the program, they have trained more than 3,000 students on photography skills over 20 printing business, with appreciation from Kano State Professional Photographers Association in Nigeria (KASPPAN).