Delegate registration is open for the second edition of the Durban FilmMart (22 – 25 July) and the line-up of speakers and topics on the programme promises a focused look at the world of filmmaking in Africa from varied perspectives.
DFM takes place during the Durban International Film Festival (21-31 July) to which accredited DFM delegates also have access. A core activity of DFM is the opportunity for selected projects to pitch their films to leading international financiers, sales agents, co-producers and funding organisations from North America, Europe, Asia and Africa on a one-to-one basis at the Finance Forum.
Durban Film Office’s (DFO) Toni Monty notes that “126 qualifying projects were submitted in 2011, a significant increase from 2010’s figure of 76 qualifying projects. The final selection, up from 12 projects in 2010 to 20 projects in 2011, is split between Feature Film and Documentary genres."
Feature projects in the DFM 2011 selection are:
• 69 Midane el Messaha (69 Messaha Square), directed by Ayten Amin and produced by Ihab Ayoub; Egypt
• Ali Mea’za, directed by Ibrahim El Batout and produced by Hossam Elouan; Egypt
• Boda Boda Thieves, directed by Donald Mugisha and produced by James Tayler; South Africa
• Children of the Sand, directed by Ekwa Msangi-Omar and produced by Appie Matere; Kenya
• Imbabazi, directed and produced by Joel Karekezi; Rwanda
• Lock Yourself In, directed by Elan Gamaker and produced by Bridget Pickering; South Africa
• Midnight Dogs, directed by Lassaad Dkhili and produced by Guillaume de Seille; Tunisia
• Robin du Web (Robin of the Web) directed and produced by Veronique Doumbe; Cote D’Ivoire/ United States of America
• This Boy, directed by Kyle Lewis and produced by David Max Brown; South Africa
• Two Princes, directed by Philippa Ndisi-Hermann and produced by Atieno Odenyo; Kenya
Continuing its support of African filmmaking, the Hubert Bals Fund will again present an award for the most promising film project. Three projects will also be invited to the Rotterdam Producers Lab as part of the partnership with Cinemart and the International Film Festival Rotterdam.
Peter Rorvik, director of the Durban International Film Festival adds, “Alongside the fiction features, this year we have strengthened opportunities for documentaries, working closely with the International Documentary Festival of Amsterdam (IDFA) in setting up documentary pitching sessions to commissioning editors and financiers.”
IDFA and the Jan Vrijman Fund will offer accreditation and accommodation at IDFA 2011 for two selected documentary projects. In addition, PUMA.Creative is offering a range of awards: a PUMA.Creative Catalyst Award and a number of PUMA.Creative MobilityAwards, all of which will be adjudicated by Channel 4 BRITDOC Foundation.
The selected documentary projects for DFM 2011 are:
• The Black President, directed by Adze Ugah and produced by Anna Teeman; Nigeria/ United Kingdom
• Femme a la Camera, directed by karima Zoubir and produced by Hicham Brini; Morocco
• En Terre Inconnue, directed by Ariane Astriid Mbourou and produced by Cyrille Masso; Cameroon
• FIDAI , directed by Damien Onouri and co-produced by Mathien Muller and Alexander Singer; Algeria/ France
• Homage to the Buddha, directed and produced by Nicole Schafer; South Africa
• I, Afrikaner, directed by Annalet Steenkamp and produced by Lauren Groenewald; South Africa
• Naana La Reine Mere (Naana, Queen Mother), directed and produced by Jean-Marie Teno; Cameroon
• Ndiyindoda (I am a Man) , directed by Mayenzeke Baza and produced by Bryony Roughton; South Africa
• Return to Zimbabwe, directed and produced by Xoliswa Sithole; South Africa
• Rollaball, directed by Eddie Edwarts and produced by Steven Markovitz; South Africa
Expert speakers
Parallel to the pitching sessions for selected projects, there are four days of seminars, workshops and masterclasses featuring industry experts and filmmakers. Exciting lead experts at Durban FilmMart this year include Juliane Schulze, Peter Broderick and Hetty Naaijkens.
Juliane Schulze will present a session on Film Finance Fundamentals. She is Senior Partner at Peacefulfish, a strategic media consulting company based in Berlin, specializing in content financing, and in particular in developing innovative financial solutions for audiovisual projects. As Executive Advisor, she has extensive cross-industrial knowledge, covering feature film, internet and mobile content. She advises international production companies as well as public institutions and works on several projects for the European Commission and MEDIA.
Peter Broderick will present on Distribution Techniques and will provide a guided tour of the worlds of “Crowdfunding and Crowdsourcing”. He is President of Paradigm Consulting, which helps filmmakers and media companies design and implement state-of-the-art distribution strategies. A key player in the growth of the ultra-low budget feature movement, Broderick has become one of the most influential advocates of digital moviemaking.
Hetty Naaijkens-Retel Helmrich founded Scarabee Films, which specializes in high-quality creative documentaries, short films and features and her productions have been repeat winners at both IDFA and Sundance. Naaijkens works with broadcasters including NPS, VPRO, AVRO (Netherlands); HBO, PBS, and VRT (Belgium), Arte (France/Germany), TV 7 and France 3 (France) and Television Suisse Romande (Switzerland) amongst others. Naaijkens will present on Documentary Finance Wizardry.
The Durban FilmMart is a joint venture between the Durban Film Office (DFO) and the Durban International Film Festival (DIFF) created to raise the visibility of projects from the African continent and to facilitate financing and networking opportunities with potential co-producers and other industry players. To register as a delegate for the Durban FilmMart visit http://delegates.durbanfilmmart.com/filmmartregistration.aspx
For more information, contact Mona Pilane on e-mail durbanfilmmart@durban.gov.za or and for assistance with delegate registration, Kamille Padayachee at info@thoughtfire.co.za.
