In an effort aimed at boosting the film industry in the country, Blantyre-based Dikamawoko Arts has engaged professional international film trainers.

Dikamawoko Arts Director, Tawonga Nkhonjera, confirmed the news, saying a workshop, which started on March 9 to March 29, is currently underway.

Nkhonjera, who has just returned from Czech Republic where he went to source funds, said the workshop is being hosted by Dikamawoko Arts in collaboration with Nyasa Films International and boNGO Worldwide.

"This is the first of a four-part training course through which we also hope to foster international collaborations between our participants and other filmmakers in Czech Republic and Myanmar," he said.

Nkhonjera said through the workshop, Dikamawoko wants to promote more professional productions that can be submitted to international festivals or syndicated to international TV stations.

"This is not all, we also want to empower the media players with the capacity to expand their repertoire of reportage by giving them the chance to delve into documentary filmmaking," said Nkhonjera.

According to him, the training format is taking three to four students per tutor and that each group of students will have their own camera, sound equipment and editing suite.

"At the end of the training, each team of students will choose a topic and shoot a documentary film which we will submit to international festivals that we have signed contracts with.

We will maintain the same students for the next workshop in summer, and when our partners are convinced that the two workshops went well, they will release more support so that in 2016 we kick-start a film school," said Nkhonjera.

He said the tutors of the training are professional and that they are coming from prestigious schools, Prague Film School in Czech Republic and Yangon Film School in Myanmar.

Nkhonjera said the training has 15 students with three tutors.