Focus Features is inviting entries for its second Africa First Program, which comprises funds earmarked specifically for emerging filmmakers of African nationality and residence. It offers eligible and participating filmmakers the chance to be awarded $10,000 in financing for pre-production, production, and/or post-production on their narrative short film made in continental Africa and tapping into the resources of the film industry there.
Interested filmmakers have until 17 August to apply. Complete details and application information can be accessed through www.filminfocus.com/africafirst.
Launched in 2008, Africa First last fall awarded $10,000 apiece to five winning filmmakers; Edouard Bamporiki (from Rwanda), Jenna Bass (from South Africa), Jan-Hendrik Beetge (also from South Africa), Dyana Gaye (from Senegal), and Wanuri Kahiu (from Kenya). Their short films are, respectively, Long Coat, a drama about a young Hutu coming to terms with Rwanda’s and his own family’s past; The Tunnel, a 1980s-set story centering around a 10-year-old girl’s quest; The Abyss Boys, a thriller about an illegal trade in a small fishing town; the public transportation musical N’Dar [Saint Louis Blues]; and Pumzi [Breath], a futuristic sci-fi tale.
Africa First is supervised by producer Kisha Imani Cameron (…Sometimes in April), whose Completion Films company has a first-look and consulting deal with Focus, and who coordinates Africa First submissions and evaluations with Focus director of production Matthew Plouffe. In addition to on-site work in Africa, the winning filmmakers of Africa First also participate in a New York City weekend of one-on-one workshop discussions with members of the program’s international advisory board of experts in African cinema and such Focus executives as Schamus and president of production John Lyons, covering such topics as international distribution and the economics of studio financing; and with Cameron and Plouffe.
Offering practical support in addition to the fiscal backing, the reconvening Africa First board members are: Mahen Bonetti, founder and executive director of the African Film Festival; journalist and documentary filmmaker Jihan El-Tahiri; June Givanni, who for four years programmed the Toronto International Film Festival’s Planet Africa series; Clarence Hamilton, script editor and Head of Production at NFVF; Pedro Pimenta, producer and manager of training programs throughout South Africa; and Keith Shiri, founder/director of the Africa at the Pictures film festival in the U.K.
The five filmmakers selected will retain the copyrights and the distribution rights to their completed shorts, with the exception of North American rights; Focus will retain those, as well as the right of first negotiation to productions derived from the shorts, such as a feature-length expansion. The announcement of the selections will be made on or about 1 October 2009.
