And Amazon Prime acquired the Cameroonian movie Saving Mbango in 2020.įor this reason, filmmaker Itambi Delphine is more excited about what Cameroon’s Netflix debut means for the industry going forwards than what it says about where it has reached thus far. The South African-based Multichoice recently started airing more Cameroonian films. Netflix is the biggest of these platforms but far from the only one. But now, many hope that streaming platforms will both offer a new source of income and make future films more attractive to potential investors. The shutting down of cinemas has stymied revenue from ticket sales and income from selling films to airlines or uploading them to YouTube is uncertain. This has helped the films attract a wider audience and immediate recognition.įunding remains a challenge, but some hope Netflix could be part of the solution.Īccording to film critic Kwoh Elonge, the industry may enjoy the global reach its films get through the global platform, but “Netflix is more of a strategy for filmmakers to, first of all, make money out of their films.” One way in which they have done this is through collaboration with Nigeria’s Nollywood and Ghana’s Ghallywood whose stars are widely known in Cameroon.Īll four films that Netflix picked up feature some of West Africa’s biggest stars: Richard Mofe-Damijo and Iretiola Doyle in Therapy Ramsey Nouah in The Fisherman’s Diary Alex Ekubo in A Man for The Weekend John Dumelo in Broken. In the face of these headwinds, Anglophone filmmakers persevered. “It is difficult for anyone to put in money in any such project when they know that the atmosphere is not conducive,” he adds. “If you had to do a movie in Batibo or Bali because you need a specific topography, plot and other setups in the story you want to tell to make it believable, nobody will accept to go…because it’s a risk zone,” filmmaker Nkanya Nkwai told African Arguments. The Anglophone crisis, in which protests against perceived marginalisation in 2016 quickly escalated into a full-blown conflict, only made the situation more difficult, both logistically and in terms of attracting funding. These channels have been reluctant to broadcast Cameroonian films and, according to some insiders, demanded payment from filmmakers to screen their films as they would consider this publicity. And since private media ownership was permitted in 2000, newer stations predominantly aired foreign content such as Latino soap operas and Hollywood films. They have faced not just typical challenges around issues such as funding and support but a complicated national context in trying to get their films aired and recognised.īefore 1990, Cameroon’s media was exclusively state-run and mostly showed Francophone films. And in the enthralling romcom A Man for The Weekend, they could get lost in the travails of the beautiful, successful protagonist dealing with her demanding mother’s pressure to find a husband and start a family.įor Anglophone filmmakers in Cameroon, this walk to this global recognition has been long and tricky. In Broken, viewers followed Sassy’s daring mission to rescue her father’s company in Douala with Endeley, a complete stranger from a village in the South-West region. They could appreciate the fluid bilingual dialogue in Therapywhere an affluent couple confronted postpartum depression. In The Fisherman’s Diary, t hey could share in the journey of 12-year-old Ekah striving to go to school in a culture where girls’ education is considered taboo. With unprecedented ease, viewers from across the globe could suddenly watch uniquely Cameroonian stories that were once the preserve of only local audiences. In early 2021, Anglophone Cameroonian filmmakers made a momentous debut as four films were made available on the global streaming behemoth Netflix. There are now four Cameroonian films available on Netflix.