By SAM PHIRI –

NATIONAL Association for Media Arts (NAMA) chairperson Patrick Salubusa says his association is concerned with the escalating number of low quality movies being produced and distributed in Zambia by alleged illegal and unregistered movie producers.
Salubusa says the then Ministry of Information and Broadcasting Services (MIBS), Mwansa Kapeya, called upon producers of film, television and radio to become NAMA members.
“We are concerned that since six months after this was said by the then minister we are still seeing unregistered film producers on the Zambian film market.” he says.
Salubusa goes on with an appeal as he says:  “We therefore appeal to the copyright unit at MIBS to make sure that only films produced by those with NAMA membership certificates are accepted because adding sanit y to the film industry is a task which cannot be left to our organisation alone.”
He says it is the responsibility of NAMA to know how many films are being produced in the country and by whom.
“It is shocking to see how the number of unregistered local filmmakers and foreign filmmakers coming to launch their films in the country without the knowledge of NAMA is growing,” he says
And  National Arts Council of Zambia  (ZAC) Acting director Adrian Chipindi says the council shares the concerns that have been expressed by NAMA regarding the number of film makers who are not members of NAMA.
Chipindi says  it is important for the film producers to register with the NAMA who are an affiliate of the Council for reasons that include: the easy collaboration of the  copyright enforcers with the artiste and helping Government to monitor the development of the film industry as well as develop appropriate interventions if most of the
film makers are not registered “With the recently launched Digital Migration Policy, it has become crucial that film makers and artistes in various arts genres be properly organised to be able to meet the content demand of media houses,” he says.
Finally, we wish to urge all artists involved in the production of audio visual works to collaborate with the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting in the hologram initiative.
NAMA is currently busy organising the Zambia Film, Television and Radio (ZAFTAR) Awards themed Zedwood For All: Celebrating 50 Years of Independence.
Entries are welcome from all broadcasting houses, production companies, theatre clubs and individual artists involved in film, television and radio productions with 30th September, 2014 being the deadline.
The awards ceremony which will see awards like the best screen actor, best screen actress, best radio actor, best radio actress, best feature film, best screen comedy, best soap, best screen director, best radio drama, best screen script, best radio script and best radio drama producer awards, among others, will be held on 7th November, 2014 at the Government Complex in Lusaka Participation fee is K250 for NAMA members and K 500 for no-NAMA members.