MultiTV, a subsidiary of the Multimedia Group and the National Film and Television Institute (NAFTI) have signed a collaborative agreement to enable NAFTI premier its students’ productions on Cine Afric Premier, a weekly television magazine programme.

At a ceremony held to officially sign the agreement, the Rector of NAFTI, Prof. Linus Abraham, noted that the partnership with MultiTV is timely and a mutually beneficial enterprise, which, if harnessed effectively, would help restore NAFTI’s pride as a cutting edge film and television training institute and Ghana as the cradle of cinematic evolution in Africa.

“A lot of people have been asking when Time with NAFTIwill resume on air. In a symbolic way it tells us the impact that this programme, particularly the stories that were told through these films, had on the audience. This partnership is very good and important in building the careers of the students.

"With MultiTV, we are going to deliver quality, creative and insightful content that is going to showcase them as a premier station in this country. This partnership also provides an opportunity to define the identity of Ghanaians in terms of what is supposed to be quality audio-visuals for this country.

"Again, through this partnership we would like to build a strong relationship with MultiTV to become an avenue of internship for our students, bring experience people from MultitTV to organize master classes for our students so as to bring experience from industry to bear on the professional training of our students”.

On his part, the Programmes Director of MultiTV, Mr. AbdulaiAwudu, expressed joy and satisfaction at the realization of this partnership agreement.

“For a very competitive industry like television, and in view of the saturation of the radio and television landscape, the relevance of any radio or television station in the marketplace is dependent on content. It has therefore become instrumental that we as a television station deliver to our audience quality programmes and films that do not only have high entertainment value but also project Ghanaian and African socio-cultural values.

"We hope this partnership, in the near future, goes beyond simply screening and critiquing NAFTI productions to having a dedicated channel on MultiTV, which would be managed by NAFTI, and serve as training ground for NAFTI students.

"We also believe that the programming department of MultiTV would collaborate with the institute to begin to shape the students and direct them into programming career so [that] by the time they finish school they are able to appreciate better the programming, business, technological and aesthetic dimensions of film and television production”.

According to Channel Manager for Cine Afric and 4 Kids Channel, Nana YaaSerwahSarpong, screening NAFTI productions is a step towards exposing Ghanaian values to the audience.

“Most of our content over the years has been geared towards delivering the Ghanaian values to the rest of Africa; and as our footprints are across Africa, we deliver this through our local channels which includes Cine Afric.

Cine Afric has been showing a lot of Ghanaian movies over the period. However, over the past two years the industry experienced a slum and we thought that rather than proliferate the airwaves with movies from Nigeria and other parts of Africa, we can step up with great and amazing content that NAFTI has, to support what the industry is already delivering on the market. So far the contributions, comments and responses we have been receiving from the public since the commencement of screenings of NAFTI productions two months ago are phenomenal”.

In his remarks, the Head of Production of NAFTI, Mr. Dennis-Brook Prince Lotsu, noted that the partnership marks a monumental step in the Institute’s attempt to move the students’ productions from merely being entered into students’ film competitions to having them exposed to larger audience.

“It is important to expose these programmes to a larger audience not only for the critique, entertainment and enjoyment that they bring in terms of the images that are created, but also to serve as motivation for the students to aspire for higher laurels and contribute meaningfully to the film and television industry in Ghana.”

As part of the agreement, which spans two (2) years, NAFTI would supply twenty-five (25) compelling short films (10 minutes and 30 minutes) every quarter to MultiTV for review and screening, and provide at least a panel member to discuss these films.