- Title: BURKINO FASO: Floods damage Bourkina Faso film archive
- Date: 13th November 2009
- Summary: OUAGADOUGOU, BURKINA FASO (NOVEMBER 11, 2009) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF DOCUMENTS, PAPERS AND BOOKS DESTROYED BY FLOODS AT THE OUAGADOUGOU AFRICAN FILM INSTITUTE VARIOUS OF CINEMA AND FILM MACHINES DESTROYED BY FLOODS AT THE INSTITUTE VARIOUS OF REELS OF FILM IN BOX DESTROYED BY FLOODS (SOUNDBITE) (French) BOUBACAR PATRICE DIALLO, HEAD OF TECHNICAL SERVICE OF OUAGADOUGOU AFRICAN FILM INSTITUTE, SAYING: "Some of our stock and our boxes of film were flooded and this is the very effect of water on the coils. We tried to remove the water as soon as possible, but despite all this part of the movies cannot be saved."
- Embargoed: 28th November 2009 12:00
- Keywords:
- Topics: Disasters / Accidents / Natural catastrophes
- Reuters ID: LVAF1AIR5I06E95N9V1FBXVE9RC2
- Story Text: Efforts are underway to save more than 1,500 films damaged by flooding that hit west Africa in September.
The film industry in Burkina Faso is trying to save many samples of African art, which were left nearly destroyed by floods in September.
The heaviest rainfall in 90 years in the African state triggered heavy flooding and forced thousands of people to flee their homes.
The floods also affected one of the country's most prestigious institutes, the Ouagadougou African film institute, which houses African film archives.
The archive, which officially opened in 1995, contains a collection of films but is also used to catalogue and preserve many African films.
The floods damaged movie projectors and movie coils were damaged beyond repair. About 1,500 films were also damaged by water.
"Some of our stock and our boxes of film were flooded and this is the very effect of water on the coils. We tried to remove the water as soon as possible, but despite all this part of the movies cannot be saved," said Boubacar Patrice Diallo, the head of technical service at the film institute.
A technical team has been established to save or repair the damaged movies.
Although some movies have been saved, others cannot be replaced because only one copy existed.
"We have to save as many films as we can, even if we may not be able to save all of them," said Jean Martin Sanou, an employee at the institute.
While officials are still struggling to repair the damage caused by the floods to the institute, the movies that have been rescued are now temporarily housed at the headquarters of the the African Film Festival of Ouagadougou (FESPACO) for four months.
"It's quite an very important film archive, we have more than 3,000 copies. It is a film archive that is open to all, it is also a library and is also a place of preservation and storage of African films," said the head of FESPACO, Michel Ouedraogo.
FESPACO is Africa's largest film festival and one of its most important.
Established in 1969, the festival showcases the latest releases in African cinema and television. It runs every two years to showcase pan African film and television . - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2011. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
