Secondary school students will henceforth receive quality education in the art of film production. The good news was made known last Friday, January 28, 2020 in Yaounde. This was during a ceremony to close an accelerated refresher course which trained teachers in cinematic arts in Yaounde. The event was part of the official introduction of an Advanced Level Course in Film Production in Cameroon. The training of teacher trainers in cinematic arts took place from 13 to 24 January 2020 and was made possible by the ISCAC, Higher Institute of Training in Film and Audiovisual Trades of Central Africa, an offshoot of the Ecrans Noirs Association.

The 50 Secondary School teachers who undertook the training course were selected by the Minister of Secondary Education from the 10 Regions of the country. According to the Delegate General of Ecrans Noirs, Bassek ba Kobhio, the first week of the training (13th to the 17th) was particularly devoted to the theoretical part of film production and film projection with a debate on the long feature film « Les Saignantes » by Jean-Pierre Bekolo. The second semester of the training (20 to 24 January) was devoted to practical and technical sessions on film production and the presentation of micro-programmes by participants. At the end of the training course a lecture on the theme “Teaching the Cinematographic Arts, adoption and resolution” was presented to the audience. Now that the refresher course for teachers is over, it is expected that the manual that will be used by the students has been finalised and made available, as indicated by the Inspector General of Education, Professor Catherine Nsata Awoundja in the month of October, 2019. Students to undertake the course will also be selected in the different classrooms. The Ministry of Secondary Education has selected 10 pilot schools throughout the country, one per Region. In the Centre, Lycée Général Leclerc School has been chosen to experiment the teaching of film production. During the course, students will be schooled on the theoretical knowledge of film production, the history of the World, African and Cameroonian film, cinematographic expression and language, as well as cinematographic practice.