South African filmmakers and their counterparts on the continent will now have a platform where they can pitch their feature film projects to international financiers and world sales agents. The Durban FilmMart, an initiative between the Durban Film Office (DFO) and the Durban International Film Festival (DIFF), was officially launched on 25 July and will have its inaugural edition at the 2010 DIFF event.
It is hoped that the FilmMart will become an important feeder market of African content to other markets across the globe.
Speaking at the FilmMart launch the DF’s Acting CEO, Toni Monty, said they had been in talks with the DIFF for the past two years about the feasibility of a film market. Following their proposal we commissioned a study of international best practice to look at the state of content in Africa. A lot of work has been done in the last 19 months, none of which would have been possible without the support of the city leadership.
"We conducted a comparative analysis of global festivals and markets and looked at the role they play in the economy. During our visit to Rotterdam this year it was painfully obvious that the presence of African projects was very poor. Following extensive interviews throughout the study, key findings indicated a real interest in accessing market ready African projects."
According to DIFF director Peter Rorvik, discussions are in place with a number of agencies overseas and on the continent regarding FilmMart. "The success of DIFF’s Talent Campus Durban has provided a fantastic template to reach out and find a broad range of filmmakers across the continent. We’re delighted that the City of Durban has expressed such enthusiasm for the initiative. There are still a lot of processes to go through as we need to make absolutely certain that the first FilmMart goes well. Therefore we want projects to be ready for pitching and we also want to provide training on how to pitch effectively."
Read more in the August 2009 issue of Screen Africa
