M-Net, the South Africa based media company that produces Big Brother Africa and runs satellite networks Channel O and Africa Magic will be launching an online service called the African Film Library.
The websites describes the service as follows:
The African Film Library is an M-Net initiative showcasing the best of the African film industry – making the movies easily accessible for movie aficionados around the world.
The African film industry is one of the oldest – with its roots in Ain el Ghezel (The Girl of Carthage), which was produced in Tunisia by Chemama Chikly in 1924. M-Net has spent the last three years negotiating the rights to almost 600 works in English, French, Arabic and Portuguese and digitally remastering them.
The library forms an important archive of the continent’s cultural cinematic heritage, and also, for the first time, makes the African artists’ works easily accessible by a wide viewership around the globe – creating a new audience for existing and emerging filmmakers.
If you have ever tried to find some of the films listed on the site, you can appreciate the innovation of the platform. The site is built similar to most video sharing portals, where one registers to gain access and digitally rent movies as well as rate and leave comments. It is parallel to Jaman in many ways, though Jaman’s African movie selection is limited and the African Film Library focuses strictly on African films. There was no indication on the cost of a movie rental, but that one will first buy credits that can then be used towards film rentals.
