When the National Film Workshop - the precursor to the Sierra Leone Film Foundation - was first started to help develop the Sierra Leone filmmaking industry, it recognised that this was not a short term project, but one destined to continue for as long as filmmaking itself was being pursued in Sierra Leone.

It was quickly clear that, as a long-term project, there would be a need for a significant amount of resources - time, people and financial - to be able to fulfil the stated goals. However, in stark contrast to the surrounding national climate of donor-dependency and the extreme readiness of other groups and organisations in Sierra Leone to immediately seek funding prior to actually achieving anything or showing a sustained committment to anything, the Workshop took an important decision. We would follow the classic boostrapping philosophy that one can 'better oneself by one's own unaided efforts, using a series of self-sustaining processes that proceed without external help and thus leveraging a small initial effort into something larger and more significant'.

As a bootstrap project, the Workshop would be able to demonstrate to the rest of the world what could be done in Sierra Leone, by Sierra Leoneans, through self-help. The belief was held that, eventually, those people and individuals who recognised patriotism, integrity and the long term value of our activities would join and support us, without even being asked. In other words 'If we build it, they will come'.

Since that time in 2005, the Workshop and its many projects have grown into the Sierra Leone Film Foundation.

Over that time, through our consistency, persistence and the dedication of the many people (Sierra Leoneans and non-Sierra Leoneans aroud the world) who have been involved in our projects, we have become, uniquely, the oldest and most widely active Sierra Leone filmmaking organisation. Fro the plaudits and support we have received, we believe we have successfully demonstrated our committment to, and passion for, the development of Sierra Leone filmmaking. 

Our next challenge is to consolidate and develop our strengths even more. As a result, we now have a number of emerging opportunities for collaboration and support from interested organisations and individuals. We offer these, not from a position of dependency and inferiority, but from a position of national pride at what we have achieved and the recognition that through our experiences and the lessons we have learned, we are now in a stronger position to invite others to share the challenges of our journey towards success.  

We warmly invite film and television industry professiionals and organisations, investors, donors, sponsors, supporters and the general public, to work with us.  

We have now begun formal solicitations for these and other forms of collaborative help and financial support, so if you would like to find out more about how you can support our work, please contact us.

We look forward to hearing from you.