African
Cinema Research and Documentation Centre (ACREDOC)
In keeping
with Africa’s heritage and standards, this state-of-the-art Centre was founded
in 2002 by NAFTI and generously supported by the Ford Foundation to work towards
a language of film and television, which can contribute to the values of
socio-cultural development. The establishment of this Centre is significant as
it is exceedingly obvious that although films from Africa have made a mark in
the international sphere, we are yet to find a one-stop-point in Africa where
there are a collection of African films and videos, papers and books for
research purposes. Thus, the Centre aims to:
1.
be an information hub for research and studies into African cinema and
culture and operate as a clearing house for ideas;
2.
offer assistance and direction, and also provide comparative material on
developments in other cinema cultures.
3.
encourage in-depth studies into African cinema and employ cinema to
critically engage, celebrate and interrogate African cultural beliefs and
traditions;
4.
debate the relevance and indeed urgency of an understanding of African
cinema, culture and history for the questions of the present day;
5.
foster links with other departments and institutions, by means of
research seminars, collaborative projects, academic exchanges, and also run
specialist seminars and workshops to teach sub-regional practitioners to further
apply their skills to a more diverse audience interests and benefits, with
emphasis on instructional and educational content development in priority areas
such as health, agriculture, etc.
6.
initiate its own research projects into the current state of cinema
developments and practices on the continent, to provide a real and consistent
overview and analysis of industry and related developments across the continent.
7.eventually
train screen production teachers from sub-regional countries and offer on-line
and distance education programmes specifically customized to meet the region’s
requirements.
The Centre consists of four rooms housing a
research library, three research staff offices, a production unit and a seminar
room, all equipped with modern resource facilities. The Research Library has
excellent space layout conducive for academic work, and there are facilities
such as reading and viewing spaces. The Library’s eight hundred and eighty six
(886) volumes consisting of three hundred and sixty (360) titles and fifty five
(55) volumes of periodical holdings, makes it the largest exclusive location in
Africa for African cinema studies. Other materials relevant to the Centre’s
academic interests such as African culture, history, literature, music and
folklore are also contained in the Library. The Library also holds an extensive
collection of videotapes and digital versatile discs (DVDs) in its niche DVD and
video library.
Each
of the three research staff offices located in the building is equipped with
personal computers and a printer to facilitate research work. The Centre’s
production unit has a non-linear editing suite and a sound workstation, digital
movie cameras and CD writers. The Seminar Room is outfitted with high-tech
communication apparatuses.
One
of the many strengths of the Centre is that it will positively encourage the mix
of academic and professional users, and such interaction is what NAFTI considers
will give the Centre its vibrancy. The Centre will also prove useful to
students, scholars and anyone interested in the development of African cinema
studies and/or African affairs and culture.
The
Centre will further boost NAFTI’s status as a pace-setter in film and
television education in Africa and thereby promote Institute’s philosophy of
‘using cinema as a tool for development and a means of safeguarding African
culture and heritage’. The Centre will play an important role in the
development of Ghana’s and Africa’s rich culture, film and television being
important contributors to our culture, with a practical contribution in the area
of cine-cultural policy research.
It
is the anticipation of NAFTI that the Centre’s archive will become an academic
exchange point for sub-Saharan Africa, and will provide information on research
findings, cinema developments and achievements.
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