Kganya Gao Kwalate, a representative from Botswana’s Ministry for Youth, Gender, Sports and Culture, as well as its Film Office, is on a mission to showcase Botswana to the world through film, and attract both filmmakers and film tourists. 

She emphasises that the Africa Tourism Leadership Forum (ATLF) held in Gaborone this week has successfully united key stakeholders, allowing everyone to recognise that they are all working towards a common goal.

Ms Kwalate praised a meeting at ATLF2024 involving the Ministry of Youth, Gender, Sport and Culture, the Ministry of Environment and Tourism, the Botswana Tourism Organisation (BTO), and Business Botswana, during which a plan was developed to establish structures that would enhance both the film and tourism industries, enabling them to better package their offerings and make them more marketable on a global scale.

“I’m glad the Botswana Tourism Organisation is on board because when you talk about film tourism, it is the same product that the tourism organisations are promoting. We are also promoting the country in terms of locations.

“The Ministry of Environment and Tourism fortunately has some guidelines in terms of filming or research in natural and protected areas, which speaks to the rates they would charge for filming in those locations. Then the Department of Environmental Protection has developed some guidelines as well which speaks to the filming rates.

“We will be holding meetings to consolidate our efforts into a one-stop shop. Instead of having one ministry handling permits on one side and another ministry on the other, we aim to create a single document that addresses the needs of all government entities.”

Ms Kwalate says Botswana’s 1970 Cinematograph Act is under review and set to be re-enacted by November. “The purpose of this is to establish a Film Commission of Botswana. This will then set the tone of how the country will develop and commercialise our film industry. 

“We have rich narratives in terms of our culture and heritage, and we can’t wait to take it out to the world and position Botswana through film. We will also collaborate with BTO and promote in markets that they attend around the world, so that when we speak tourism, we speak film and we attract filmmakers in that same sitting.”