IFAS to host High-Level French Film Industry Delegation in South Africa

This July, the French Institute of South Africa (IFAS) is bringing a highly esteemed delegation of twelve audio-visual professionals from France and the Reunion Island to South Africa under the banner of “New Shared Stories”. This is an endeavour to assist them to scout, network and develop relationships with the local film industry and stimulate cross-country collaboration and co-productions.

“In June 2023, an extended co-production agreement between South Africa and France entered into force. It is a unique agreement for France as it includes audiovisual co-productions. It is designed to encourage the creation of new content and narratives by expanding and stimulating co-productions between the two regions. It is a crucial step forward for new shared stories to be invented and for reciprocal investment and partnership,” says Ambassador of France to South Africa, Mr. David Martinon. 

This delegation follows a successful partnership between IFAS, the NFVF, and IDC which supported a visit of a South African delegation to the Series Mania Forum in France – the biggest series market in Europe, where the outcomes of this focussed effort led to successful business and networking opportunities for future audio-visual collaborations.

“The visit to South Africa has been built on the success of this, and together with local and French partners, we are excited to host twelve professionals who bring with them a variety of interests and expertise,” adds Mr. Martinon. 

In Cape Town, the delegation will visit Cape Town Film Studios, meet industry professionals, visit key locations, and attend the premiere of the film Pierre de Coubertin: An Olympic Life– about French educator Pierre de Coubertin, father of the modern Olympic Games.

Following this, the delegation will visit Durban to attend the Durban FilmMart, the annual business hub of the African film industry, and the Durban International Film Festival which celebrates its 45th edition this year and will also have a French Focus.

At the DFM, the delegation will participate in panels on animation, documentary and fiction film project pitches in the market’s Pitching Forum. In addition they will visit locations, network, and take business meetings with various other South African and African professionals, audiovisual agencies and commissions in attendance at the market.

The delegation includes:

Mounia Aram, who is President of Mounia Aram Company, specializes in entertainment and cultural exchange, develops innovative productions, and manages distribution as an agent.

Mathieu Ageron is the Deputy Managing Director, Co-Founder and Producer of Nolita which produces series, documentaries, dramas, music videos, and films for various platforms and channels.

Lynn Bou Malham is Head of Development of Federation Middle East Africa Caribbean (MEAC) a subsidiary of Federation Studios that creates and generates IPs from these regions, and produces high-end local films, TV series, and documentaries.

Emmanuel Eckert is Deputy Purchasing Director at Mediawan Rights, a leading audiovisual group in France and the second largest in Europe, with almost seventy production companies in 7 territories.

Frédéric Fiore is President of Logical Pictures Group which produces and co-produces, finances, and distributes films, series, documentaries, and commercials in France and internationally.

Michaël Gabrion is Producer at Gaumont Film Company, a French production and distribution company for feature films, television series, and animation programmes founded in 1895.

Benjamin Guéniot is a writer-director from Reunion Island with 15 years' experience of making TV series, commercials and short films in Reunion Island and Madagascar. Since 2023 he has been the founder of Storyto Films, an audiovisual and film production company.

Rémy Jacquelin is President of Paradoxal an audiovisual production company. He was responsible for theatrical distribution, international sales and the financing at Gaumont for ten years, and in charge of acquisitions of feature films and series at TF1 from 2000 to 2012. He joined Malberg Pictures and oversaw programme distribution and co-production and financing.

Morad Koufane is Director of International and Young Adult Fiction at France Télévisions a public broadcasting group, France's No. 1 media company. His unit is responsible for acquiring foreign series, co-producing international series, and producing young adult series for the French market. 

Céline Leclercq is Head of the Co-production, Cooperation and World Cinema Department at CNC (French National Centre for Cinema and Moving Images), a public administrative body responsible for devising and implementing French government policy in the fields of cinema and other moving image arts and industries, in particular audiovisual, video and multimedia, including video games.

Jérémie Palanque is Associate Vice-President and Producer of Woooz Pictures which is particularly interested in creators and stories from the world, through international co-productions.

Abel Vaccaro is a director and a producer from Reunion Island who is currently the managing director of Wopé, a short films, documentary and institutional productions company focused on showcasing content from the island.

IFAS will further be supporting the development of pan-African talent through DFM’s Jumpstart programme, a vital incubator dedicated to providing aspiring filmmakers with essential tools and techniques for scriptwriting and project packaging hosted in partnership with Produire au Sud, the film industry market arm of Festival des 3 Continent, in Nantes France. Four projects from the continent have been selected to benefit from Jumpstart in 2024.

A French focus also features at the Durban International Film Festival, and includes documentaries and films such as Dahomey, All We Imagine as Light, and Four Daughters, co-produced with producers from around the globe.

The project is supported by the Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs and the French Institute, with IFAS and Alliance française in Durban as part of a strategy for the international export of cultural and creative industries. It also benefits from the support of the Reunion Island Film Commission.

For more information about IFAS go to www.frenchinstitute.org.za

 For more information about the Durban FilmMart go to www.durbanfilmmart.co.za

For more information about the Durban International Film Festival go to https://ccadiff.ukzn.ac.za/

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Generation Africa offers films by some of Africa’s finest film talent at Encounters 2022

Four powerful documentary films in The Generation Africa project, produced by Cape Town-based production company STEPS, are being screened at the Encounters South Africa International Documentary Film Festival which runs until 3 July at venues in Cape Town and Johannesburg.

The films reflect personal experiences and connected narratives of Africans living on the continent and in the Diaspora, focussing on what “home”, belonging and migration mean. 

No Simple Way Home - Akoul de Mabior

 Winner of the 2021 DOK.horizonte prize at DOK.fest München 2022, No Simple Way Home (Kenya / South Africa) directed by Akuol de Mabior, is a personal film in which de Mabior pays tribute to her mother, Rebecca Nyandeng de Mabior, who became one of the five vice presidents of South Sudan’s so-called unity government in 2020. Her father, Dr John Garang de Mabior, was a revolutionary leader whose movement led to the foundation of South Sudan.

No U Turn

 The award-winning film, No U Turn (Nigeria / France / Germany / South Africa) directed by Nigerian film-maker Ike Nnaebue, received a special mention at this year’s Berlinale International Film Festival. Nnaebue retraces his steps of a journey he made almost 30 years ago, to flee Africa. He seeks to discover what motivates people today to expose themselves to the dangers of a passage into an uncertain future and encounters some interesting people and stories along the way.

Transactions

 Migrants and money feature as a theme in Zimbabwean director Rumbi Katedza’s  Transactions (Zimbabwe / South Africa) in which she explores the phenomenon which saw the Diaspora population transact well above $1 billion in 2021 providing relief for families in need of basics, with the bulk of these made through mobile phones. This is a sobering film the filmmaker personalizes these numbers by displaying the humanity and complexities as well as how family dynamics are determined by remittances behind these figures.

African Moot

 Shameela Seedat’s (whose first film Whispering Truth to Power was critically acclaimed) African Moot (SA) delves into the human rights and migration law, as aspiring lawyers gather for the annual African Human Rights Moot Court Competition. For one week in Gaborone, Botswana, a group of young lawyers assemble for the competition representing the top law schools from their respective nations as they debate a new issue each year. The focus is on the rights of refugees. Developing arguments that will be judged by practicing lawyers, the next generation of lawyers discovers what policy should be like in the African context, and where advancements can be made across the region.

 “These films focus on the narratives and lived experiences of Africans, told by a generation of filmmakers that reflect the aspirations, challenges, and dreams of African youth,” says Don Edkins, executive producer for the project. “They are honest, raw, insightful narratives that have to be told to change the narrative for the continent. They present us with a mirror of ourselves and our lives but importantly a window for the world, and asks hard-hitting questions from our perspectives about the future of Africa and the world.”

 For more information on Encounters screenings go to encounters.co.za and for Generation Africa go to https://steps.co.za/projects/generation-africa/

Generation Africa is supported by DW Akademie and the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, with the financial support of Robert Bosch Stiftung and Bertha Foundation.

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Award-winning film I Am Here for Encounters & DIFF

Joint South African Premiere of award-winning film

I Am Here for Encounters South African International Documentary Festival &

Durban International Film Festival

The award-winning documentary I Am Here, an evocative portrait of a feisty and spirited 98-year-old Capetonian Ella Blumenthal, one of the few remaining Holocaust survivors, will have its joint premiere at the Encounters South African International Documentary Film Festival (10 - 20 June) and the Durban International Film Festival (22 July – 1 August).

Directed by South African filmmaker Jordy Sank, the film follows Ella at her 98th birthday celebration where she shares her story in a rare, honest and candid conversation with close friends and family.  These memories are depicted in 2D animation – typically an unusual medium for Holocaust flashbacks - which adds a nuanced innovation to the texture of Ella’s stories. 

While I Am Here recalls her astonishing endurance, weaved into her narrative of overcoming trauma, are uplifting stories of courage and light. Ella never lost hope, not even in the darkest of times. Some of Ella’s memories include surviving three concentration camps and avoiding death in seemingly serendipitous ways. She was a pillar of support to her niece, Roma, who survived alongside her. 

“Ella encompasses remarkable resilience, boundless energy and unwavering determination - her personality is remarkable not because of what she has been through but in spite of it.” says producer Gabriella Blumberg. “We hope that the film can be a catalyst for speaking about all forms of discrimination in a world that still defines itself by what is other.”

Jordy Sank describes meeting Ella for the first time “I had interacted with Holocaust survivors before, but none were quite like this. I knew that the world needed to learn from Ella Blumenthal’s stories and the awe-inspiring way she lives her life today.”

The film won the Audience Award for Best Documentary at the Atlanta Jewish Film Festival and was also screened at the Miami Jewish Film Festival earlier this year.

This film was made possible with a grant from the Claims Conference and supported by the Johannesburg Holocaust and Genocide Centre. Metro International acquired world-wide rights to I Am Here and launched it at the European Film Market in February 2021.

For Encounters the film will be available in a virtual screening at  https://encounters.co.za/

Bookings for the Durban International Film Festival screenings will open at a later date. For more info: https://ccadiff.ukzn.ac.za

Direct booking info:

Encounters -the film will be screened from 13 - 20 June (R60) https://virtual.encounters.co.za/film/i-am-here/

Virtual Q&A at Encounters : Jun 13, 2021 07:15 PM SAST (Free)

https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_jTD_-x1vQ4OtFDH09sBA-Q

Physical screening at Encounters at  Bioscope JHB with Q&A Mon. Jun 14, 2021 at 7:00pm SAST (R70)  https://tickets.tixsa.co.za/event/encounters-2021-i-am-here

Trailer link: https://vimeo.com/510401467

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Durban FilmMart Institute – 2021 Project Submissions Call Out

Durban, South Africa: The Durban FilmMart Institute has opened the call for project submissions for the 2021 Durban FilmMart (DFM).

“Our vision is to stimulate the growth of the African film industry through the development of film projects, and to network African filmmakers within the continent, and the rest of the world,” says Magdalene Reddy, acting General Manager of the Durban FilmMart Institute. “The success of the DFM over the years can be seen in the many independent film projects that have reached festivals as well as big and small screens, and the connections and relationships that have been developed and forged over the years.”

 “In 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, the DFM took place as a virtual edition which attracted over 1000 online delegates from 64 countries. These delegates represented producers, directors, scriptwriters, distributors, broadcasters, sales agents, financiers, investors, festival programmes and other film industry representatives from around the world, and we are hoping to grow these numbers and attract more interest in our 12th edition.”

The DFMI independent adjudication committee will select ten feature-length documentaries and ten feature-length fiction film projects from the submissions. These projects will undergo a two-day packaging and mentorship programme during the DFM, followed by one-on-one meetings with a panel of film financiers, buyers, and distributors from across the globe.

Full-length fiction and documentary film projects with Africans in the major creative roles (writers, directors, and producers) seeking co-producers, financiers, sales agents, and funders are invited to submit. These are read and reviewed by an adjudication committee for consideration. A producer and director must be attached to the project. The deadline for submission is 21 February 2021.

For more about the Durban FilmMart Institute, project submission criteria, and how to submit your project, visit http://www.durbanfilmmart.co.za/ProjectSubmissions . The submission link is opened for applications.

For further enquiries contact: info@durbanfilmmart.com.

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