According to research commissioned by the National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF), South Africans are not willing to cough up more than R50 at cinemas to see local films, as they deem international content of better quality than the films produced locally.
Disposable income was an issue in whether or not audiences consumed films, but there was also a real perception local films should be cheaper.
“There is a reluctance to spend disposable income in consuming local films, especially if they are not decidedly and significantly cheaper,” said Peter Kwele, NFVF head of marketing and communications, when he presented the results of the research in Johannesburg late last week.
“The research also indicated South African films did not always consider what the audience wanted,” said Kwele.
He said audiences felt South African films did not always provide a true reflection of South African life – which is why many gravitated towards internationally produced films.
The research project was aimed at identifying audience trends relating to the consumption of film and videos in Africa – with a specific focus on local content.
Regarding television viewing and paying R265 per year for a TV licence, 47% of participants said they felt they were not getting value for money from SABC 1, 2, 3 and e.tv, as the content “was not entertaining and the general quality of programming was poor”.
Re-runs of the same programmes were also cited as a major bugbear among respondents.
– noluthandom@citizen.co.za
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