Potential partners for funding

• The Board of Investment (government agency for foreign investment) has set up a pilot programme to support film development on a tax rebate basis. So far only big international productions willing to come to Mauritius are benefiting from this scheme but it may change in the near
• The French Cultural Institute (Institut Français de Maurice) is also active in supporting short documentaries.
• The Mauritius Broadcasting Corporation (MBC)
• The Mauritius Film Development Corporation was created to stimulate the interest of film makers and encourage the setting up of a film industry in Mauritius.

Film schools, training programmes

There are no film schools in Mauritius.

Business management, technical and journalism schools interested in being involved with this initiative

In 2012, a new regional workshop for documentary filmmakers was organised in Madagascar, called DOC- OI, by Africadoc/Ardeche Images. The workshop brought representatives of local and international TV stations (CFI, TV5) to meet documentary makers.

Festivals

Since 2007 the festival Ile Courts has screened short films (documentaries and dramas) and organised training workshops. The organisers are l’Institut Français and Porteurs d’Images, a local filmmakers’ association.

Professional, peer mentorship group: creative producers, line producers, directors, writers, editors

• Gopalen Parthiben Chellapermal – Wild Square Production
• David Constantin – Caméléon Production
• Barlen Pyamootoo (Director of the feature film “Benares”)
• Jerome Valin – Digital Island
• Media Equipment Rental

Camera, computer hardware, software and other tech-related companies in film

• Media Rentals Mauritius
• DB Vision

Sales companies, distributors advisory group

There are no sales companies.

Porteurs d’Images is setting up a website for the distribution of local productions to film festivals.

There are music distribution companies but they are limited to the distribution of local music for Mauritius.

Advocacy partners

• Association Porteurs d’Images
• Arterial Network (newly established)
• The Board of Investment and MBC
• Transparency Mauritius (affiliated to Transparency International)

Existing documentary and news archives

• The Mauritius Broadcasting Corporation (MBC) has an archive for its own
• Ministry of Information

All forms of distribution, including: broadcast, theatrical, internet, mobile TV, telecoms/mobile phone, mobile cinema, film/video clubs, etc.

The Mauritius Broadcasting Corporation (MBC) is the national public television and radio broadcaster. It broadcasts programming in French, English, Hindi, Creole and Chinese. The MBC derives its income mainly from license fees and advertising. A monthly license fee is payable by all domestic electricity consumers possessing a TV set – this accounts for 60% of its total income. Advertisement on Radio and TV contributes to about 35% of its income.

The Corporation also ensures broadcast on both Radio and TV of educational programmes devised and produced by the Mauritius College of the Air.

Live Broadcast (Radio and TV) of local events are carried out on regular basis.

News bulletins including local and foreign items are broadcast daily at specific times.

A project for a 24-hour rolling news station is under way and will provide an interactive platform for local, regional and international news.

Other television broadcasters include CanalSat, Parabole Maurice, London Satellite Systems and DSTV.

Documentaries are mainly broadcasted on foreign channels. Locally:

• Public screenings organised by film producers/ directors
• Festival Ile Courts
• Institut Français de Maurice
• Occasionally on MBC
• International
• Internet
• Film Festivals

Educational and non-profit distributors

• There is one association “Ledikasyion pou Travayer” which organises public screenings every
• L’Atelier Littéraire Ltée also has a monthly Cine
• The WWF (World Wildlife Fund) organises screenings on bio diversity

Legal frameworks including any censorship issues

There is no official legal framework specific to documentary production.

There is no official censorship as such but artists in general can, from time to time, be pressured by religious groups when their work concerns issues related to religions or cultural heritage. The government is not very clear on its stand regarding this type of pressure.

A general film framework is in preparation but not yet in force.

Copyrights are protected under the Copyright Act of 1997. The institution responsible is The Mauritius Society of Authors (MASA).

Audience cultivation strategies including publicity/ PR strategy

The organisers of the Ile Courts Festival has been, over the years, cultivating a strategy to develop a filmgoing culture by organising film screenings in different parts of the island. The response is encouraging.

Revenue strategies, including advertising, sponsorship, footage licensing, partnerships with news organisations

There is very low revenue from filmmaking.

Main revenues are from sponsorship or licensing when the film is sold to an international channel.

The local TV station MBC does not buy local content. However, after months of negotiations, the MBC has recently bought the rights to broadcast 15 short fiction films produced by Porteurs d’Images in the context of the Ile Courts Festival for the past 5 years.

The support of international institutions is essential: this can be done through the development of partnership programmes between Mauritian and international institutions/organisations. If there is an international recognition for Mauritian production, the authorities will surely be interested in local productions.

Study of rights issues for distribution both broadcast and online (Can we secure online rights across ‘territories’?)

This could be done through the MASA (Mauritius Society of Authors) and the Ministry of Arts and Culture. A “Memorandum of Understanding” underlying a bilateral agreement could be signed between those having the rights and these two Mauritian partners and also maybe the MBC, that will be responsible for broadcast on the territory.

Options and best practices for dealing with piracy

Piracy is a real issue in Mauritius, as video outlets do not respect the law and are tolerated by the authorities.

The law is there and the authorities should apply the law and be stricter. More power should be given to the local Author’s Association and there must be a real will from the authorities to deal with the problem.

More severe penalties should be applied, like prison for those who do not respect anti-piracy laws.

The authorities could reinstate and give more power to the “Brigade des jeux et anti-piratage” (the police unit which was responsible for gaming and piracy).

There is also a need to develop an awareness programme around anti-piracy.

Possible creation of online film library and/or channel to distribute films supported by ADFF and others

It would be a good idea, as most Mauritians don’t have access to films other than mainstream Hollywood/ Bollywood films and TV series. An online channel would give them access to a broader range of films, especially for younger generations.

• Porteurs d’Images is currently working on this.
• Since 1995, the island has been able to connect to the world through the internet. Mauritius wants to be known as Cyber Island! But the country is quite far from this as ADSL internet access is still expensive and sometimes Now there are over 10,000 users of internet in Mauritius.

Social movements, civil society groups and other partners

Mauritius has a long history of civil society engagement in social, economic, cultural and political spheres, dating from the nineteenth century. Currently, 6000 voluntary organisations are registered with the Registrar of Associations, most of which are Community-Based Organisations (CBOs), with 300 organisations corresponding to the characteristics of an NGO. It must be noted that most of these CBOs are ethnic- or special interest-based, with very few of them oriented towards development work.

As regards elections, Mauritius’ well-entrenched tradition of regularly held multiparty elections as well as high voter turnout at each election has allowed it to stay off the radar of civil society concern.

Civil society has also been quite active and vocal in areas pertaining to political party funding and electoral reform. In 2008, Transparency Mauritius (affiliated to Transparency International) started an information and dialogue campaign to get political parties and corporate bodies to be more transparent and accountable when it comes to money received and given.

More and more NGOs are now using video as a tool for awareness. But the problem is that there is not much funding for these types of projects. Most NGOs are funded through the CSR Fund (controlled by a governmental institution) and film production is not funded by CSR funds.

Political sensitivities

Being dependent on sugar production since its independence, Mauritius has since developed to a diversified economy with important pillars in financial services, business process outsourcing, tourism and information technology. Mauritius is ranked as an upper-middle income economy by the World Bank.

It has been ranked as the best governed country in all of Africa, five years in a row, finishing on top of the Ibrahim Index of African Governance. According to the Democracy Index, Mauritius is the only African country with “full” democracy.

The judiciary is independent, and trials are fair. The legal system is generally non-discriminatory and transparent. Expropriation is unlikely. Enforcement of laws regarding intellectual property rights is relatively effective. The Independent Commission Against Corruption investigates offenses and can confiscate the proceeds of corruption and money laundering. Mauritius is one of Africa’s least corrupt countries.

Mauritius has often been presented to the rest of the world as a success story not only because of its good economic performance but also because of its interracial peace and harmony. However, some critics point out that Mauritian civil society is not sufficiently united and its democracy is stagnating. For some also the “melting pot is now a boiling pot”. The truth is, as one observer has noted: “This is a society that has come out of the grindstone of history and emerged with a plethora of ethnicities, cultures, traditions, and religions. This mélange of identities is a source of pride on the one hand and a tipping point of tensions on the other”.