Chairperson of the NFVF council, Charlotte Mampane is pleased to have continued the tradition but disappointed by the fact that the foundation was not afforded the opportunity to physically present its previous annual report to parliament in the previous year. "This lack of interaction denies the NFVF an opportunity to interact and account to parliament, even if it's all good work that the institution has to communicate," writes Mampane in the report.
The NFVF is a statutory body and receives annual budget allocation through the Department of Arts and Culture to spearhead the development of the South African film and video industry; for the 2009/10 financial year, the institution received R37.895 million. With a staff compliment of 26, it is responsible for supporting the film and video industry through the granting of funds for the development and production of film projects, granting of bursaries and support of training initiatives, marketing and promotion of film and video projects to local and international markets.
During the year under review, as stipulated in the NFVF Act, the foundation has to spend not more than 25% of the allocation on operational expenses. Of its operational budget, 22% is spent on compliance. The NFVF disbursed 18% for training and bursaries to underprivileged students, 6% was spent on script development, 2% was spent on research, 58% was disbursed for distribution and marketing while a further 17% was spent on production and development of films.
Films such as Shirley Adams, Father Christmas doesn't Come Here and Skin were the beneficiaries from the above amount and they were all released theatrically in 2010, while receiving good reviews from international film festivals.
In its efforts to raise more revenue for the film community, the foundation established a new unit, which is intended to serve as an innovation hub with a purpose to find new ways of investing and developing a commercially viable business in the industry. In its pioneering year, the unit acquired the distribution rights of Skin. Through the business case created by the unit, the NFVF is hoping to oversee the exhibition platform, which will result in providing services to the vastly under serviced areas as the Act mandates.
