Film Actors, Directors and Producers who proved their artistic skills in the North West Province in 2007, recently received cash prizes of about CFA 300.000 francs in reward for merit from “ACE Production,” a film industry. The production house promotes Cameroon’s culture by putting it in the limelight to enable a good level of competition with other big film production countries in Africa and the world.

Handing over the ACE Awards, the Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Claude Henry Ndengue said “nobody is so poor that he has nothing to give, and nobody is so rich that he has nothing to receive.” He said it is thanks to the generosity of the Hon. Minister of Culture, Ama Tutu Muna that laureates were given CFA 25.000 each during the virgin edition of the ACE Awards that started with the disbursement of over a million francs to the Yaounde chapter. The CEO said a cash prize of CFA 500.000 to each laureate has been budgeted for the 2008 edition and cautioned aspirants to be more professional in their assigned roles.

Dr. Ndengue hailed the North West for mass production but advised that for them to enjoy the fruits of their labour, they should accelerate quality, assign roles based on professionalism rather than sentiments, employ Business Managers to sell their products and embark on division of labour rather than one person acting as the Script Writer, Executive Producer, Director and Main Character in a single production. Dr. Ndengue who joined the film industry in 1986 advised North West film makers to sub-title their films in the French language that can also interest the francophone public, and sign broadcasting right with television channels as sales of their films are still timid.

Speaking during the prize award ceremony, one of the laureates who received the prize of the best male veteran, John Menget admitted that it takes a lot of sacrifice and interest to perfectly perform a role. The Provincial Delegate of Culture, Wang Johnson Sone who also received a prize as one of those who excelled during the ACE Award week, pleaded with ACE Productions to organize professional workshops for the North West based Artists to enhance their skills.


Yaboa NDULA