Information Minister To Launch �55,000 Project By The French Embassy

Mr John Tia Akologu, Minister of Information is expected to officially launch three projects worth �55,000 by the French Embassy at the National Films and Television Institute (NAFTI) in Accra on Friday. The projects which are the latest in a long history of collaboration with the Institute include the refurbishment of the film dubbing Centre at NAFTI, the creation of a viewing Centre for the school and an award of �20,000 to support NAFTI�s establishment of a Broadcast Journalism Programme to be introduced next year. According to a statement issued in Accra the viewing centre would serve as a multimedia library to provide students and faculty of NAFTI, easy access to a wide variety of films across the globe. The statement said a database of films would be created and stored on a server, which could be accessed on computers connected to the facility thereby making it easy for the faculty and students to search for and watch films of their choice during and outside lectures for research purposes. The Embassy would bring experts from Canal France International and Radio France International to do the training for the new Broadcast Journalism Faculty. Professor Linus Abraham, Rector of NAFTI, said the move by the French was significant to building a repository of Ghanaian films. He said Ghana had to build up a database of its films to make all Ghanaian films especially those from the past accessible to all. Prof Abraham said the Institute with the aid of the Embassy had started "doing this by creating a centralised network where a wide variety of films can be accessed on demand by its faculty for teaching purposes and its students for learning purposes". Ms Val�rie Lesbros, Cultural Affairs and Higher Education Attach�e of the French Embassy stated that the Embassy is a collection of African Film Classics, which would be presented to the Institute to include in its database of films. �This viewing centre will make it possible for NAFTI to have a multimedia library of a great number and a great variety of films to enhance its training programme,� said Ms Lesbros. NAFTI�s relationship with France had seen its students benefitting immensely from workshops organised for them with French film experts. In the past, the French funded the establishment of the film dubbing centre, the only one of its kind in Ghana. This year, the Embassy has refurbished the dubbing Centre with new equipment to the tune of about �15,000, which allows for the dubbing of films from one language to the other.