Lack of strategic film distribution channels has been singled out as the main hindering factor in generating income through the film industry in Malawi.

According to award winning filmmaker, Shemu Joyah, the absence of channels such as cinemas and sites, where people can stream movies, are some of the challenges suffocating the film industry.

Joyah said: “All countries that have developed their film industries have cinemas where people go and pay to watch films but here in Malawi the case is different.”

He pointed out the current scenario whereby the only channel for distributing films in Malawi is though Digital Versatile Disc (DVD) as worrisome saying it is exposing the industry to pirates.

“Malawian films are distributed via DVD’s and people are sharing them illegally, as a result film makers are failing to realize profits,” the man behind ‘The Road to Sunrise’ movie bemoaned.

Joya suggested that Malawi should establish cinemas and more websites where people can buy and stream films through online.

The filmmaker also asked for the establishment of streaming sites for movies saying they can be another viable way of promoting Malawian films.

Currently Malawi has only one site for the artists, malawimusic.com, where music is streamed and downloaded at a fee, while the film industry has none, pausing a challenge for it to develop despite having its mother body known as the Film Association of Malawi (FAMA) which was established in the late 2011.