Government urged to rescue film industry from the grip of NFC
Sri Lanka’s National Film Corporation (NFC) has now become a liability to the modern local cinema due to malpractices, irregularities and inefficiency since its inception in 1971, industry stakeholders complained.
They urged the government to maintain the NFC as a regulator of the cinema industry stripping away its additional role as a film distributor and film hall owner as its bureaucratic bungling has prevented the development of the industry for over three decades.
The need of the hour is to fully liberalise the distribution and import of films and allow cinemas to operate without any undue influences, they said.
The exhibitor’s rights to run the businesses based on the market and capacity utilisation requirements should also be ensured, they added.
NFC should be restructured to assist the exhibitors, producers, importers and distributors of the private sector, film industry leaders suggested.
While the 1971, 1987-1989 insurrections, the 3-decade long Northeast conflict and other minor revolts including Easter Sunday bomb attacks exerted pressure on the industry, NFC’s monopoly in distribution and import of films has caused the downfall of the industry, they alleged.
As the NFC was the sole distributer of films no good content was provided to cinemas resulting in patrons moving away from a film-going culture that was once very vibrant in the country.
When distribution was partially liberalized in 2001, four private film distribution circuits Lanka Film Distributors Ltd (LFD), EAP Films and Theatres Ltd (EAP), Movie Producers and Importers Ltd (MPI) and Cinema Entertainment Ltd (CEL) entered the market in addition to the NFC, they were permitted to import and distribute films.
This move increased investments and revenue for the industry and the import of films was revived once again.
However according to gazette notification No 2130/16 dated July 3, 2019, “all tasks pertaining to distribution of films including the scheduling of films for cinema halls, releasing films for screening and collection of income on distribution have been vested in the NFC”.
Major foreign studios were reluctant in doing business with the industry in Sri Lanka since the NFC had a monopoly over film distribution, and it was unable to import high-quality films.
Film hall owners should be allowed and/or encouraged by the state to make better use of their properties for alternative profit-making businesses where these film halls are currently struggling to survive due to the current situation.
They said that the private sector cannot be blamed for the closing down of cinema halls and the NFC management should answer the issue of non recovery of loans granted for the renovation of film halls.
Industry stakeholders have urged the Committee on Public Enterprises to make recommendations for the transformation of NFC as the sole regulator of the film industry and not any other function.