What Prince Bubacarr Aminata Sankanu tells Infoprations about The Gambia’s film and broadcast industries liberalization

The Gambia is one of the smallest countries in Africa. Freedom House recently categorised her as partially free after the Jammeh's exit. How elated are you on this?

I feel highly elated and optimistic that after 22 years of dictatorship, we as a country of just two (2) million inhabitants can start enjoying our basic and fundamental human rights without fear and threats. Recent Gallup polls suggest that over 80 percent of Gambians are optimistic about our country. The young people who once dominated the statistics of illegal migration to Europe are gradually returning home.

Does being partially free now ensure the right direction towards development of the country, especially creative industries?

Indeed, take the case of our young CINEKAMBIYA Film Industry as barometer. Under the Jammeh dictatorship, we could not make quality films but within the first 12 months of the new Gambian political dispensation under President Adama Barrow, I have been able to make five (5) films, one of which PAIN OF SORROW has just been nominated Best Film for the Hollywood African Prestigious Awards (HAPA) 2018 in California USA. I trained and integrated over 180 Gambian youths into the film trade and I have put The Gambia on the global film map. Personally, I can say that my home country is moving into the right direction and the freedoms we are enjoying will be consolidated in spite of the reasonable post-dictatorship challenges.

During Jammeh's era you are one of the people who fought against Nigeria's Nollywood domination of Gambia's film industry. Does it mean you don't believe in talent development through knowledge sharing and collaboration?

Actually, I am a proud supporter of the Nigerian film industry. After graduating from film schools in both Germany and Scotland, I visited Nigeria several times to find ways of collaborating with local stakeholders in promoting African integration and cultural renaissance through film. I have been to Lagos, Ibadan, Oshogbo, Calabar and Abuja to establish contacts with like-minded Nigerian film professionals.

The problem is that our former Gambian dictator was exploiting the Nigerian and Ghanaian film industries to cover up his countless human rights abuses. He was inviting selected Nigerian and Ghanaian movie celebrities to his various birthdays and other events as praise singers and event decorations. He would pay some appearances fees of up to US$30,000 each when Gambians were living under less than a Dollar a day. The public resentment was understandably huge and that is why when I spoke out against the dictatorial exploitation of our meager resources for the benefit of a few Nigerian and Ghanaian celebrities, the Gambian public supported my stance. Barely a year later, Gambian voters kicked out dictatorship through the ballot box on 01 December 2016.

The former dictator Jammeh was faking Pan Africanism and using the Nigerian and Ghanaian filmmakers for his PR campaigns. It had nothing to do with profound Gambian-Nigerian Cooperation. Since time in memorial, Nigerians and Gambians have been working together and inter-marrying. But for the film industry, ask yourself why for the eight (8) plus years that former dictator Jammeh was sponsoring Nigerian filmmakers to come and have fun in The Gambia, what measurable benefit have they left behind in terms of filmmaking in The Gambia? We don't even have a single camera that you say that the Nollywood promoters of Gambian dictatorship left behind for Gambian talents to train with.

Besides, it is important to note that the Nigerian film industry was built by the Nigerians and not the Chinese or Europeans. The Ghanaian film industry was built by the Ghanaians and not the Americans. We in CINEKAMBIYA (the name of our Gambian film industry), are ready for mutually-beneficial knowledge sharing but on fair terms. The dictator in Gambia is gone and a commission of inquiry is investigating his financial dealing and human rights abuses. So the Nollywood folks who were enjoying poor Gambian resources from dictator Jammeh should be careful. Whenever they visit The Gambia, they could be called for questioning by respective investigators.

As a pioneer in the film industry, what does Blank Panther's success mean to Africa, especially Gambia's film industry?

The run-away success of Blank Panther is an inspiration to African filmmakers to work harder in revalidating our Black and African identities and cultures in our films. There is a global market for authentic Black and African cinema content. For The Gambian film industry called CINEKAMBIYA, we are fortunate that we are working on developing our authentic Gambian and African stories that we can package for global consumption and use Black Panther for marketing orientation.

Now, that you have ensured that The Gambia's film industry is placed on the global map, what has been the development of the industry?

As hinted above, we can now make films without a dictator or his henchmen hindering us. We have decided to have a unique name for our Gambian film industry called CINEKAMBIYA as we don't want to be part of the Hollywood, Bollywood or Nollywood copy-catism. I have established the annual CINEKAMBIYA INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL (CIFF) and PAN AFRICAN SCREEN AWARDS (PASA) as our home-grown trade fair for the creative industries. We have access to new Gambian Government decision makers unlike under former dictator Jammeh who marginalized and neglected us. The Gambian audiences at home and in the Diaspora are embracing our work. The Gambian TV market is liberalized and we now have four (4) four TV stations that would be showing our Gambian films. The future is bright and we are open to win-win collaborations to all those who are interested.

Your advice for the upcoming artistes?

My advice to upcoming artistes is to put their self-worth above worldly material worth. Let them be patient and show willingness to persevere. Follow your passion and not quick money. Take the example of those who were using their talents to promote dictatorship in The Gambia. Today the dictator is gone and their reputations are dented. Don't venture into something that would make you lose credibility tomorrow.