British actor Idris Elba has told the BBC he will move to Africa within the next 10 years as part of plans to support the African film industry.
The 52-year-old star of the hit series The Wire is pushing ahead with early projects to build film studios in Tanzania’s Zanzibar archipelago and Ghana’s capital Accra.
Born in London, Elba has a strong attachment to Africa, having a mother from Ghana and a father from Sierra Leone.
He says it’s important for Africans to be able to tell their stories, so he wants to use his star power to support the burgeoning film business.
“I would certainly consider settling here. I haven’t thought about it, but it will happen,” he said in an interview on the sidelines of an industry conference in Accra.
“If God willing, I think I will (migrate) within the next five, 10 years. I’m here to strengthen the film industry. It’s a 10-year process, but I think we’ll move there from overseas. ‘I can’t do that.’ I need to be in the country, on the continent. ”
But in the spirit of Pan-Africanism, he is not fixated on living in any particular location.
“I’m going to live in Accra, I’m going to live in Freetown (Sierra Leone’s capital), I’m going to live in Zanzibar. I’m going to go where they’re telling the story, and it really is important.” “
One of his goals is to one day produce films at a studio in Accra.
Elba, who played South African anti-apartheid leader Nelson Mandela in the 2013 biopic “Long Walk to Freedom,” believes it is essential that Africans take center stage throughout the filmmaking process. It’s in front of the camera, it’s behind the camera, and it’s also financing, distribution, marketing, and showcasing the final product.
He imagined that one day they would gain a more nuanced understanding of the continent, just as movie audiences around the world know the difference between the American cities of New York and Los Angeles without ever having visited them. I am.
“This sector is the soft power not just for Ghana but for Africa as a whole.
“If you watch a movie or anything that has to do with Africa, all you see is trauma, how we were slaves, how we were colonized, how this is just a war, and Africa. If you come to , you’ll realize that that’s not true.
“That’s why it’s so important that we own the stories about our heritage, our culture, our language, the differences between languages. The world doesn’t know that.”
Nigeria’s Nollywood produces hundreds of films annually, and movies are perhaps one of the country’s most successful exports. There is also a tradition of producing high-quality films, especially in the French-speaking regions of Africa.
Director Elba has previously acknowledged the talent of the African film industry, but said facilities were “lacking”.
UNESCO’s 2022 report confirmed this actor.
The UN’s cultural agency says that despite a “significant increase in production volumes”, problems such as piracy, lack of substantive training opportunities and lack of official film institutions are hampering film production operations across the continent. He said that he was being treated as such.
Mr. Elba believes that with the right momentum and the involvement of governments willing to create an enabling environment, a virtuous cycle can be established.
“We have to invest in storytelling, because when you look at me, you see a little version of yourself, and that inspires us.”