By Dhiladhila Magazine · Issue 14

For once the fifty-minute film after dinner is set where the viewers live, in a place they recognise.

Most of what a Namibian family watches on a weekday evening comes from somewhere else. The thirteen local films announced on 6 July 2022 quietly change what is on offer in the living room, promising fifty-minute stories set where the audience actually lives, in a slate of Namibian films made for family viewing.

Seeing your own place on screen

There is a particular pleasure in recognising the setting of a story – a town, an accent, a family shape that matches your own. A drama set in Aranos or a comedy shot in Windhoek offers that recognition in a way an imported film cannot, and it is a large part of why local content draws a loyal audience rather than a passing one.

The chosen genres reflect the room they are meant for. Comedy, family drama, action and romantic comedy, all built for family viewing, are made for the shared evening screen rather than the solitary one.

The draw is recognition – a story that looks and sounds like the room it is watched in.

Culture as a leisure habit

Local film-making also feeds a wider cultural appetite, giving audiences local names to follow and a homegrown industry to take pride in. Over time a steady supply of local titles turns occasional viewing into a habit and gives Namibian storytelling a regular place in ordinary leisure.

A steady supply of local stories is what turns a novelty into a viewing habit.

For a Namibian household, the near-term promise is simple: more evenings when the film after dinner is one about people who live here. The choice it offers viewers is whether to make a habit of the local title over the imported default, because that habit is what tells broadcasters to keep the local stories coming.

Sources: The Namibian; Film Commission to formalise local film industry (Namibia Economist); MultiChoice Talent Factory launches Southern Africa academy