Who is DFMI?
Established in 2020, the Durban FilmMart Institute is a non-profit company that facilitates local and international trade and investment in African film content.
Our Vision
To be the premier business hub of the African film industries in a world where African film industry professionals and content are globally competitive and celebrated.
Our Mission
The mission of the Durban FilmMart Institute is to provide appropriate and effective programmes and services in order to promote, support and facilitate investment in the African film industries, so that African film industry professionals and products are competitive and celebrated globally.
The Durban FilmMart aims to:
- Raise the visibility of projects from the African Continent and create networking opportunities with potential co-producers and other industry partners.
- Facilitate access to funding for promising projects and accelerate the financing of participating projects through transnational cooperation.
- Stimulate the production of African content and promote international co-production opportunities.
- Encourage project collaboration between African filmmakers.
- Generate market access for African film industry professionals and content to international markets.
- Build a community of filmmakers that have access to year-round support.
Our Journey
Based on a Feasibility Study and the approval of City of the Durban Council to fund the Durban FilmMart, in 2009 the Durban Film Office (DFO) and the Durban International Film Festival (DIFF) entered into a Memorandum of Agreement to collaborate in the development and the implementation of the Durban FilmMart (DFM). The DFO and the DIFF continued the partnership to steer the implementation of the DFM programme for 10 years.
In 2020 the City of Durban Council approved the registration of the Durban FilmMart Institute (DFMI) with an independent board governing the non profit company. The inaugural board of the DFMI is composed of individuals from South African film industry bodies.
Board of Directors
Tshepiso Chikapa-Phiri
Chairperson
Tshepiso Chikapa-Phiri is the CEO and founder of the Known Associates Group, which includes a below-the-line agency, design studio, film production company, and a state-of-the-art Film & TV Studio under development in Gauteng. With 20 years of experience in communications, events, media, marketing, and TV and film production, she is also a University of Cape Town alumna.
Tshepiso established Known Associates Pty Ltd in 2014 and co-founded Known Associates Entertainment (KAE) in 2018, later reacquiring full ownership.
She also purchased Moonlighting Films Pty Ltd, a leading TV and film servicing company. Her production credits include uBettina Wethu, Universal Studios’ Beast, Sony Pictures’ The Woman King, and Netflix’s Wild Is The Wind.
In addition to her film work, Tshepiso serves on the boards of Media Heads 360, the Gerald Sekoto Trust, the Cradle Nature Reserve, and is a trustee of the Smile Artists Foundation.
Ameera Faber
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Ameera Faber, whose career continues a three-generation presence in the business of storytelling, is an award-winning producer with extensive experience in Transmedia storytelling campaigns. She has produced over 600 hours of television content broadcast on networks including SABC, e.tv, and Netflix. With a specialised focus on science and metaphysical science based content. Her producing portfolio spans across several genres from documentary, factual, and reality entertainment shows to drama series, reflecting her deep understanding of African storytelling and global distribution ecosystems.
Ameera serves as Deputy Chair of the Documentary Filmmakers Association and has been a juror for multiple SAFTAs and International Emmy Awards. She holds two bachelor degrees in Film & Metaphysical Science, a Masters Degree in Business Psychology, and is pursuing her PhD in Conscious Business Ethics. She is an ordained minister and also the author of multiple books on relationship-building in the film, television, music and entertainment industries and owns a post-production facility in Johannesburg, supporting major productions such as Uzalo. Ameera continues to coach creatives as a business, leadership and life coach with a focus on peak performance and ethical leadership.
Khalid Shamis
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Khalid Shamis is an editor and educator, director and producer with a film-making practice over 20 years. Khalid’s practice is strongly dedicated to the pedagogy of independent filmmaking and story construction in Africa, teaching and consulting in and outside film institutions and organised frameworks.
Khalid is on the executive board of the South African Guild of Editors, a doctoral fellow at the Centre for Humanities Research (CHR) at the University of the Western Cape and is founder and director of Rough Cut Lab Africa, RCLA, a support programme for independent African films at the rough cut stage.
Masi Mtshali
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Masi Mtshali is an accomplished attorney with a strong focus on intellectual property law. He obtained his LL.B degree from the University of KwaZulu-Natal and is also a member of the Legal Practice Council, the South African Institute of Intellectual Property Law and the International Trademark Association.
Masi assists businesses and persons who wish to register their trade marks (setting their businesses apart from others and to have the ability to commercialise their trade names), copyright registrations for cinematographic films, strategic advice on intellectual property portfolios as well as protecting already existing or registered intellectual property rights from infringement and exploitation. Masi’s expertise and dedication in the creative industry makes him a valuable asset for those seeking to legally register and/or protect their intellectual property law.
Masi is the Founder and Director of Mtshali & Associates Inc.
Mocke Jansen van Veuren
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Mocke Jansen van Veuren is an experimental filmmaker, multimedia artist, educator and PhD candidate holding the positions of Deputy Head of Department at the Wits Department of Film & Television and Vice-Chair of Animation SA. His PhD research focuses on the development of unique, community-based film and animation production methodologies and pedagogies. He is the recipient of the FNB Art Prize (with Nelisiwe Xaba) in 2013, the UJ Chancellor’s Award for Research in 2013, and the Wits Vice Chancellor’s Award for Academic Citizenship in 2025.
Van Veuren has been deeply involved in the creation of national standards, qualifications and curricula in film, audio-visual production and animation. He has taught filmmaking, multimedia and animation at a number of institutions including UJ, Academy of Sound Engineering, AFDA and Wits over the past twenty years. He is a member of The Beehive Culture Worx, a grassroots collective developing and running community-based film and animation education and production programmes in Kliptown and Eldorado Park, and is currently developing an experimental animated documentary feature film with the collective.
Poovashnee Reddy
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Poovashnee Reddy is a qualified Chartered Accountant and strategic finance and
investment professional with over 12 years of experience across Big 4 audit and assurance
at PwC South Africa and Deloitte UK, as well as strategic finance roles within early-stage,
growth-stage, and institutional investment environments. She has expertise in financial
governance, capital strategy, investor engagement, financial reporting, transaction
readiness, and financial analysis across complex multi-entity and cross-border structures,
with experience supporting listed and multinational clients and developing investor-facing
materials in early-stage and infrastructure-related contexts.
She operates across investor engagement and advisory environments, supporting LP
communications, pipeline development, and investment documentation within multi-
stakeholder investment ecosystems. Her work focuses on translating complex financial and
operational information into structured, decision-ready insights that support investment
evaluation and governance processes.
Poovashnee contributes to board and advisory forums across sectors including energy and
the creative industries, where she provides input on financial oversight, risk governance, and
strategic decision support. Her role is centred on strengthening financial discipline, improving
capital clarity, and supporting structured decision-making across emerging and established
entities.
She continues to engage in strategic finance and investment work across emerging market
ecosystems, with a focus on governance, capital alignment, and long-term value creation
across diversified portfolios.
Zanele Mthembu
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Zanele Mthembu is a seasoned media professional with 30 years of experience across broadcasting, production, and distribution in local, regional, and international markets. She has held several executive roles, including Executive Head of Channel for Newzroom Afrika, Group Head Content at eMedia Group, and currently serves as Acting Executive Officer at SWIFT. Zanele was the first to be competitively selected as the Discovery Communications, Inc. International Fellow in Washington DC, where she earned her Masters in Film and contributed to various company business units.
Her dedication to industry development is evident through her service on the National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF) Council, where she chaired both the Training and the Production and Development committees, and as the former Chairperson of the SWIFT Board. She has acted as a jury member for major awards such as the SAFTAs, Wildscreen Festival Awards, and the Guangzhou International Documentary Film Festival Awards, among others. In addition to her roles as Executive Producer for the feature films “Othello Burning” and “Felix,” Zanele owns Brown Panther Films and lectures part-time at Tshwane University of Technology.
Advisory Committee
Mo Abudu
Nigeria
launched EbonyLife TV, Africa’s first global black entertainment and lifestyle network, in 2013. Her primary goal for the channel was to alter the narrative around Africa into something more positive. What followed was a string of glossy, aspirational series like The Governor, Fifty, Desperate Housewives Africa and Sons of the Caliphate, and most recently, the Netflix series Blood Sisters. Abudu is described by Forbes as “Africa’s Most Successful Woman” and rated as one of the “Most Powerful Women in Global Television”. Abudu is a Nigerian media mogul and philanthropist who has built an empire spanning almost a decade. In 2019 she was named among the Inaugural List of 100 Most Influential African Women in 2019 by Advance Media.
Steven Adams
USA
Steven Adams (USA) is a Founding Partner at Alta Global Media
where he represents international media companies and talent. Adam is the producer on the Netflix Original adaptation of Roger Guenveur Smith’s solo performance piece Rodney King, directed by Academy Award winner Spike Lee. Having served for 4 years as a VFX Executive Producer with Paris-based VFX house BUF, his credits there include such Academy Award winners as James Cameron’s AVATAR, Ang Lee’s LIFE OF PI, THOR for Marvel Studios, as well as GREEN LANTERN, GREEN HORNET, Stephen Sommers’ ODD THOMAS, and Tim Burton’s DARK SHADOWS. Steven was also VFX Executive Producer for French VFX house Digital District whose credits include the Academy Award winning features THE ARTIST & THE INTOUCHABLES. Adam is a member of the Producers Guild of America, the Television Academy, Content London and the Los Angeles Art Association Advisory Board and serves as Board Ambassador for the Blackhouse Foundation, an official partner of the Sundance Institute.
Todd Brown
Canada
of international and independent film website ScreenAnarchy.com (formerly TwitchFilm.com). An experienced festival programmer and co-ordinator of the Macao Project Market co-production market, Brown is also the Head of International Acquisitions for XYZ Films. In his time at XYZ, Brown has shown a strong focus on emerging talent and territories and has served as a producer or executive producer on a wide range of Cannes, Toronto and Sundance selected titles such as The Raid, Spring, Bushwick and many more.
Jihan El-Tahri
Egypt
film director, writer, producer and visual artist who currently serves as the General Director of the Berlin based documentary support institution Dox Box. She sits on the selection committee of the Locarno International Film Festival and has served on several African film board organisations. She has directed more than 15 films and her visual art exhibitions have travelled to renowned museums and several Biennales around the world. As a member of The Academy (Oscars) for the last five years, El-Tahri has directed more than 15 films. Her writings include Les Sept Vies de Yasser Arafat (Grasset) and Israel and the Arabs, The 50 Years war (Penguin).
Cécile Gérardin
France
and has honed her skills across the spheres of television, producing, developing and creative writing. She is the Head of Drama at Canal + International with a focus on the African Continent including Invisibles, Sakho & Mangane, Agent, Oasis, L’Amour à 200m, Cacao, Manjak, Mami Wata, De plus en plus Loin, Eki. Gérardin holds a MBA from Boston College Carroll School of Management, and an MBA from French Graduate Business School Sup de Co Reims (NEOMA Group).
Judy Kibinge
Kenya
strongly in the power of storytelling. She works with like-minded friends, collaborators and partners to create engaging and powerful films. As part of her responsibilities, she led Pan African campaigns for brands like Coca-Cola, East African Breweries, and Unilever. She has written and directed several award winning fiction and documentary films. In 2013, she founded Docubox, Sub Saharan Africa’s first homegrown fund and hub for independent filmmakers. Kibinge is also a founding member of the Creative Economy Working Group (CEWG) formed to shape cultural policy in Kenya and in 2021, was named Most Influential Woman in Film at the Women in Film Awards (Kenya). Kibinge is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture and Sciences and a sitting member of the Documentary Branch Committee for three years running.
Tendeka Matatu
UK
Africa’s most prolific film producers and a champion of African cinema. Driven by a desire to bring African and African diaspora cinema to the world, he founded Ten10 Films, an award winning production and distribution company based in London.
Matatu’s films have premiered at major film festivals including Berlin, Toronto, Rotterdam, Busan and London. His producer credits include the multi-award-winning Max & Mona; the South African box office hit Material; and the action-drama epic, Gangster’s Paradise: Jerusalema, which was South Africa’s official entry for the Academy Awards Foreign Language category in 2008. Matatu is currently Netflix’s Director of Film for the Sub-Saharan Africa region.
Dana Sims
USA
over a decade of industry experience having worked with big names in the industry and has been described as one of the most talented and hardest working agents in the business. She began her career at the William Morris Agency where she worked as a liaison between the talent and music departments and secured several prolific roles for the agency’s clients, most notably, roles in The Academy Award-winning Crash and HBO’s No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency. She was instrumental in creating a successful crossover division and continues to flourish in her unique industry position. Sims is currently the MP Talent Agent at the leading entertainment and sports agency Creative Artists Agency (CAA) where she represents many of the world’s leading musicians and actors, including Chris “Ludacris” Bridges, Wesley Snipes, Pearl Thusi, Alyssa Goss and Gabrielle Union among others.
Roger Ross Williams
USA
producer and writer and the first African American director to win an Academy Award. He has directed a number of acclaimed films including Life, Animated, which won the Sundance Film Festival Directing Award, was nominated for an Academy Award and won three Emmys in 2018, including the award for Best Documentary. Williams began his career producing political satire for Comedy Central and Michael Moore’s Emmy Award-winning series TV Nation.
Our Team
Magdalene Reddy
Director
Faiza Williams
Project Manager
Menzi Mhlongo
Project Manager
Nadia Davids
Project Manager
Minenhle Khwela
Financial Administrator
Sibahle Khwela
Programme Coordinator
Thobeka Mnyandu
Administrator
