Hollywood actor Idris Elba is popular for starring in African stories like Mandela’s Long Walk To Freedom and Beasts Of No Nation. The British-Sierra Leonean actor has always brought his African roots on set while portraying African characters. This time, it looks like he has decided to help the African film industry grow like the music industry is doing.
The 50-year-old actor pitched the idea of establishing a film studio in Ghana to President Nana Akufo-Addo during a recent visit to the West African country. Elba believes that there is a lot of potential in the African film sector, which has been stifled by poor facilities.
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While discussing with President Nana, the actor, who has Ghanaian and Sierra Leonean lineage, also emphasized the need for the government to make favourable policies aimed at boosting the film industry.
“We’ve studied the models of obviously South Africa’s incredible incentive package, and around Europe, obviously, Greece, Morocco, these are all places where they realize the value of the filmmaking dollar and have brought that policy into play,’’ the multi-award-winning actor said to President Nana.
To prove his point, Elba revealed that he is currently shooting a movie and would love to shoot parts of the movie in the West African country.
“It would be very beneficial for us to show and to make an announcement to the world that Ghana is open for business, here are the steps, the policies are in place and we have actually, bringing a film to our country, and we are going to put our money where our mouth is,’’ Elba said.
Elba, who is working towards building a film studio in Tanzania, has always been vocal about the potential of the African movie space. During the 2022 US-Africa Leaders Summit in Washington, Elba talked about the African film industry being ripe for economic gains due to its status as the fastest-developing market in the globe.
Nigeria dominates the African film industry, with Nollywood being one of the largest film industries in the world. Global streaming platforms like Netflix, ShowMax, and a few others have made heavy investments in the industry that are yielding positive results. It will not be surprising if Elba turns his attention to Nigeria.