The SL FILM Foundation develops and maintains a variety of projects that are designed to help in the formulation and implementation of a viable strategic infrastructure for the development of a national filmmaking sector; one that will help support and shape the positive development of Sierra Leone filmmaking. 

Despite having no fund-raising campaigns. and using only the limited funds available internally, we have demonstrated that it is possible for Sierra Leoneans to build and grow successful projects without foreign aid.

We are therefore proud and honoured to have built a successful track-record of initiating and driving ambitious and innovative projects that help to generate and support interest and engagement in Sierra Leone film from all stakeholders - film industry professionals and audiences, both nationally and internationally. We are also justifiably proud in being able to have achieved so many firsts and have inspired others to follow in our footsteps and add their contributions for the overall benefit of Sierra Leone's filmmaking sector.

NATIONAL FILM SECTOR DEVELOPMENT

As the first national film organisation of its kind, the Foundation has contributed to the founding, establishment and development of initiatives in the following sectors:-

• Professional Training & Education
   
• Film Festivals & Events
   
• Industry Standards and Regulations
   
• National Industry Research & Development

SUCCESSFUL PROJECT IMPLEMENTATIONS 

Our work includes the development, funding and management of important projects that, having helped establish national benchmarks, continue to contribute to the growth and development of Sierra Leone's national and international film sectors. These include the following:-

• Sierra Leone National Film Workshop
  The National Film Workshop was the first, indigenous, dedicated non-profit film organisation to raise awareness of, and provide support to, the local filmmaking industry. Established in 2005, it was the direct forerunner and predecessor of the Film Foundation. The Workshop was the first organisation to identify and conduct research with the various interest group of the indigenous film sector, leading to the establshment of most of the current projects, including the establishment of the Film Foundation, before its broad range of projects was absorbed by the Film Foundation. Today, the Workshop continues as an internal Education and Training brand of the Foundation, rather than as a separate organisation. Through collaborations with other organidataions, it aims to provide training and skills development of filmmakers, from creating and providing accessibility to training courses and materials to organising and supporting lectures and workshops. 

• Freetown Film Festival
  The first and oldest annual film festival in Sierra Leone, the Freetown Film Festival was established in 2007 to showcase Sierra Leone films and to introduce high quality international films to local filmmakers and the general public. This modest festival, funded entirely by the Film Workshop and latterly, by the Film Foundation, has not only encouraged many filmmakers to show their films in Sierra Leone and abroad, but in recent years has also inspired others to emulate our initiative, by holding more film festivals and thus providing additional opportunities for filmmakers to screen their films.

• Sierra Leone Film Festival
  The sister festival of the famous Freetown Film Festival, and the first international initiative to promote Sierra Leone films to audiences around the world. Through its offline and online festival events and activities, it provides global audiences with an opportunity to view, share and experience the work of Sierra Leone's best filmmakers.

• Sierra Leone Film Guild
  The first officially recognised labour union organisation for professionals working in the Sierra Leone film industry. Its purposes is to protect and promote the interests of all its members and the adoption of the highest professional standards across the industry, in every sector, including training, employment, legal agreements, production, remuneration, health and safety and other issues. Although the concept and development of the Guild was initiated and sponsored by the Film Workshop (which is now part of the Film Foundation), the Guild is an entirely independent, separate and wholly autonomous union organisation. It has no legal connection with the Film Foundation and is run exclusively by its members. However the Film Foundation is proud to have played a part in its historic formation and providing support for those working in the Sierra Leone film industry. 

OTHER PROJECTS IN PROGRESS

• SL Film Council
  The Foundation is working with the SLFilm Guild to support initiatives to develop a national film council to co-ordinate and lead the development of the film sector.
   
• SLFilmNet
  The Sierra Leone Film Network (SLFilm.Net) is the country's first dedicated online resource for Sierra Leone film. It hosts a national film database and social networking and collaborative tools designed specifically for the benefit of all those with an interest in Sierra Leone films; filmmakers and industry professionals, investors, researchers and academics, as well as audiences world wide. The first iteration started in 2008 and has been improving ever since. (N.B. It is currently off-line but will be rebuilt to complement the needs of the recently proposed national film council and the re-organisation of the industry.)
   
• SLFilm Awards
  These awards will be internationally recognised and provide formal recognition of professional excellence in the various branches and categories of the Sierra Leone film industry.
   
• SLFilmTV
  SLFilm TV grew from an early project (XTV-SL) and the first of its kind to provide an online production and broadcasting platform for young Sierra Leone filmmakers. This became SLFilmTV, an online platform that serves to deliver Sierra Leone films to a global internet audience. It is used to screen works from the Sierra Leone Film Foundation and will also screen works from the Sierra Leone Film Archive Project.
   
• Sierra Leone Film Journal
  As part of the need to delineate and debate the development of Sierra Leone films, the Film Foundation publishes the Sierra Leone Film Journal. Focusing on Sierra Leone's film industry activities, it is the only publication of its kind. Available in print and online, it singularly provides a platform for thoughtful and informed reflection, as well as an opportunity for the profiling of professionals, their films, and topics of interest to the industry as well as the general public.

RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT

Additional projects that are currently being explored include:-

• Film Archives: Compiling the country's first national archive and online database of Sierra Leone films.
   
• Film Distribution: Exploring international commercial distribution opportunities to provide increased reach for Sierra Leone filmmakers to bigger audiences and international revenues to further support their filmmaking endeavours.
   
• Film Funding: Identifying sources of funding through traditional sources as well as developing a film finance programme for Sierra Leone films.
   
• Film Institute: Researching the acquisition of a building to provide a central hub and focus for national filmmaking activities and resources, including training, production/editing facilities, screenings, etc.

PUBLICATIONS

• Putting Sierra Leone in the Picture: A Whitepaper on Indigenous Film Sector Development
• SL Film Council Development - Industry Discussion Document

The Sierra Leone Film Foundation welcomes suggestions, feedback and offers of collaboration and support from all interested organisations and individuals.  Please feel free to contact us