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- Author, Thomas Naadi
- Role, BBC News, Accra
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19 minutes ago
British actor Idris Elba has told the BBC he will move to Africa within the next decade as part of his plans to support the continent’s film industry.
The 52-year-old star of the hit series The Wire is behind budding projects for construction of a film studio on the Tanzanian island of Zanzibar and another in the Ghanaian capital, Accra.
Born in London, Elba, whose mother is from Ghana and father from Sierra Leone, is very attached to Africa.
He wants to leverage his notoriety to support the growing African film industry, as he says it is vital that Africans are able to tell their own stories.
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“I would definitely consider moving here; I’m not even considering it, it’s going to happen,” he said in an interview on the sidelines of a film industry meeting in Accra.
” I think that [je déménagerai] in the next five or ten years, God willing. I’m here to support the film industry – it’s a ten-year process – and I won’t be able to do it from abroad. I won’t be able to do it from abroad. I have to be in the country, on the continent.”
But in the spirit of Pan-Africanism, he will not commit to living in a specific location.
“I’m going to live in Accra, I’m going to live in Freetown [la capitale de la Sierra Leone]I am going to live in Zanzibar. I’m going to try to go where they’re telling stories – that’s really important.”
One of his goals is to one day make a film at his studio in Accra.
Elba, who played South African anti-apartheid leader Nelson Mandela in the biopic Long Walk to Freedom (2013), believes it is essential that Africans are at the center of the film production process. In front of and behind the camera, but also in terms of financing, distribution, marketing and broadcasting the final product.
He imagines that just as audiences around the world know the differences between the American cities of New York and Los Angeles without necessarily having visited them, they will one day have a more nuanced understanding of the continent.
“This sector is a soft power, not only in Ghana, but across Africa.
“If you watch a movie or anything related to Africa, you will only see trauma, that we were slaves, that we were colonized, that it is just war, and when you come to Africa, you will realize that it is not true.
“So it’s very important that we appropriate the stories of our traditions, our culture, our languages, the differences between one language and another. The world doesn’t know that.
With Nollywood producing hundreds of films a year, cinema is arguably one of the country’s most successful exports. There is also a tradition, particularly in parts of French-speaking Africa, of producing high quality films.”
In the past, Elba has recognized the talent in the African film industry, but said the infrastructure was “insufficient”.
A UNESCO report from 2022 supported the actor.
The UN cultural agency said that despite “significant growth in production”, the continent’s industries were hampered by problems such as piracy, insufficient training opportunities and a lack of film institutions official.
Mr. Elba believes that a virtuous circle can be established thanks to the encouragement and involvement of governments wishing to create a favorable environment.
“We need to invest in telling our stories, because when you see me, you see a little version of yourself and that encourages us.
