PRESIDENT of the Jamaica Olympic Association (JOA), Christopher Samuda has been reappointed to the Fédération Internationale Cinéma Télévision Sportifs (FICTS) International Festival Commission.

President Samuda was recommended to serve by FICTS International President Franco Ascani, who offered his personal congratulations to the JOA boss and expressed confidence in his continued collaboration and contribution.

On receiving the communiqué, Samuda made a call for serious work to begin towards the establishment of a sport film industry in Jamaica. He said, “Jamaica is a reservoir of creative talent in film, with accomplished screenwriters, producers, directors, cinematographers, production and costume designers, and actors and actresses that should compel us to work relentlessly in building a viable sport film industry.”

Founded in January 1983 and headquartered in Italy, FICTS, through its various commissions, promotes the values of sport through cinema and television and has 116 members worldwide. The FICTS International Festival Commission oversees annually a worldwide championship competition of sport — the World FICTS Challenge — in festivals staged globally, with winning productions graduating to the finale held each year in Milan, Italy.

Samuda, in making the call, also said “the values of sport — whether manifested in human interest docu-films, stories of triumph over adversity in docudramas, lifelong lessons in portrait films or inspired fiction — must be exemplified in creating [the] ethical lens for successive generations of athletes, coaches, administrators and other stakeholders.”

Many studies have been commissioned showing the potential revenue which a film industry can have for small economies, and Samuda believes that Jamaica is ripe for development. “Local cinematography can provide many opportunities for employment and revenue generation but an infrastructure backed by capital, solidified by a reinvestment culture, managed by proven competencies, driven by entrepreneurial innovation — with all framed in a national strategic and business model — is indispensable to success.”

Samuda will serve with sport executives and film professionals from France, China, Argentina, Kosovo, Iran, Brazil, the Czech Republic, the Russian Federation, Uganda, Bosnia and the Netherlands.