2026 DFM Programme Information

Rise with the Sun! Start the day in perfect alignment.
A limited number of mats will be available, therefore we encourage participants to carry their own yoga mats.

Start Time: 07:00
End Time: 08:00
Duration: 1h
Venue: Elangeni Hotel – Pool Deck (Mangwanani Side)

Start Time: 09:00
End Time: 11:45
Duration: 2h 45min
Venue: Maharani Hotel – Tugela

Moderator:
Thabisa Ngcobo (KES Energy Services)

Presented in partnership with The Independent Black Filmmakers Collective (IBFC).

South Africa has one of the most experienced production industries on the African continent. We have internationally recognised crews, award-winning filmmakers, diverse locations and world-class technical expertise. Yet despite these strengths, the industry is facing one of its most challenging periods in decades. Delayed incentive payments, uncertainty around public funding, institutional instability and declining investor confidence have created a domino effect throughout the sector. Producers struggle to finance projects. Businesses face mounting cash flow challenges. Crew members leave the industry in search of more stable employment. International productions begin looking elsewhere. The conversation extends beyond one institution or one funding mechanism. The challenges affecting the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (DTIC) rebate programme, the National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF), provincial agencies including KZN Tourism and Film Authority, the Gauteng Film Commission and other public institutions have collectively weakened confidence in the South African screen sector. These organisations each play a vital role in supporting production, attracting investment and growing the industry. When one part of the ecosystem struggles to function effectively, the consequences ripple across the entire value chain. Alongside these structural challenges, xenophobia and anti-foreign sentiment have increasingly become barriers to international collaboration. South Africa’s film industry has always depended on co-productions, international crews, foreign investment and cross-border partnerships. Any perception that international productions, investors or skilled professionals are unwelcome ultimately damages the country’s competitiveness and reduces opportunities for local businesses and workers. The result is an industry that remains heavily dependent on government funding while simultaneously facing uncertainty within many of the institutions designed to support it. However, South Africa is not the first country to face these challenges. Countries including Greece, Portugal and Malta have successfully repositioned their audiovisual sectors through policy reform, streamlined institutions, competitive production incentives and long-term investment strategies. Rather than treating film solely as an arts and culture sector, these countries have recognised it as an economic driver capable of generating employment, attracting foreign direct investment, stimulating tourism and supporting small businesses. This panel asks a simple but urgent question: How do we rebuild a sustainable South African film industry that is resilient, globally competitive and not dependent on government funding alone? Rather than focusing solely on the problems, this discussion aims to identify practical solutions and encourage meaningful collaboration between government, industry organisations, financiers and filmmakers to restore confidence and build a stronger future.

Start Time: 10:00
End Time: 11:00
Duration: 1h
Venue: Elangeni Hotel – Suites 3 + 4

Panellists:
Tumelo Chipfupa (PBP Economics)
Lehlohonolo Mokhosi (Industrial Development Corporation (IDC))
Tshepiso Chikapa-Phiri (Known Associates Group)

Moderator:
Judi Nwokedi (Free Women Films)

Producer Samantha Biffot joins us to trace the years-long journey of Ben’Imana — Marie Clémentine Dusabejambo’s Rwandan-Gabonese drama — from its early development as a work-in-progress project at the DFM to its celebrated premiere in Un Certain Regard at the 2026 Cannes Film Festival, where it went on to win the FIPRESCI Prize and the Caméra d’Or. Biffot will discuss the realities of financing and packaging an international co-production across Rwanda, Gabon, France, Norway, and Ivory Coast, and what it takes to carry a story about memory and survival after genocide from a market pitch to the world stage.

Start Time: 10:00
End Time: 11:00
Duration: 1h
Venue: Elangeni Hotel – Suites 1+2

Panellist:
Samantha Biffot (Ben’Imana)

Moderator:
Nataleah Hunter-Young (University of Toronto)

Closed Session

Start Time: 10:00
End Time: 13:00
Duration: 3h
Venue: Elangeni Hotel – East Ilanga

Presented in partnership with Cape Town International Animation Festival.

Entertainment is no longer confined to a single screen or format. Film, animation, gaming and immersive experiences are increasingly part of a connected entertainment ecosystem. This talk explores the common ground between these industries; how they approach world-building, character and narrative. We also discuss how gaming and immersive experiences can expand an existing IP beyond its original format. What can creators learn from one another as the boundaries between watching, playing and experiencing continue to blur?

Start Time: 10:30
End Time: 11:30
Duration: 1h
Venue: Elangeni Hotel – Suite 5

Panellists:
Jean-Luc Chapell (Free Lives)
Eric Gardiner (Vetkoek Studios)
Rick Treweek (Virtual Worlds Company) 

Moderator:
Wako Sefara (Kizazi Moto: Generation Fire)

Presented in partnership with EAVE.

This session introduces inclusive budgeting tools and financing strategies that promote equity across the production lifecycle. Topics include fair compensation and practical tips for building budgets that reflect shared ownership, transparent practices and community benefit. The session also addresses how to navigate currency imbalances in international co-productions.

Start Time: 11:15
End Time: 12:45
Duration: 1.5h
Venue: Elangeni Hotel – Suites 3+4

Panellists:
Tamara Dawit (Gobez Media)
Amil Shivji (Kijiweni Productions)

African creative entrepreneurs have long operated in a paradox: abundant talent, global cultural reach and acute financial vulnerability. The frameworks that investors and institutions use to evaluate businesses were never designed with the realities of African creative economies in mind and the tools most filmmakers and content creators carry into finance rooms were built for a different world. The result is a persistent translation failure, one that costs the sector deals, growth and sustainability.

This masterclass draws directly on Marie Lora-Mungai’s landmark new book, Creative Cash Flow: Mastering Money, Business and Growth in the African Creative Economy, an execution-focused guide written by someone who has spent two decades sitting on both sides of that table. With a career spanning founder, investor, advisor and analyst, Lora-Mungai brings a rare fluency across the creative and financial worlds that very few practitioners on the continent can claim.

The session will give DFM delegates, producers, directors, development executives and independent filmmakers, working frameworks to understand revenue models, manage cash flow in volatile markets, approach the monetisation of intellectual property and identify the right kind of capital for different stages of business. This is not theory. It is practice, grounded in African case studies and designed for the realities participants face.

Start Time: 11:15
End Time: 12:45
Duration: 1.5h
Venue: Elangeni Hotel – Suites 1+2

Speaker:
Marie Lora-Mungai (Restless Global)

Presented in partnership with Cape Town International Animation Festival.

African animation studios are caught between two funding worlds. They may have the talent, experience and ambition to grow, but lack the capital needed to build permanent creative teams, develop original IP and take on larger, more commercial projects. Grants can support individual projects but rarely provide the runway to build a sustainable studio, while traditional investors often see creative businesses as too small or risky. What does the missing middle of financing look like and what is the roadmap for studios wanting to move from small teams to scalable, commercially viable businesses?

Start Time: 11:45
End Time: 12:45
Duration: 1h
Venue: Elangeni Hotel – Suite 5

Panellists:
John Giwa-Amu (Good Gate Media)
Erica Motley (African Diaspora Content)
Nick Cloete (Mind’s Eye Creative/ Animation South Africa)
Isaac Mogajane (Diprente Films)

Moderator:
Dianne Makings (Fancy Horse Studios / Cape Town International Animation Festival)

Presented in partnership with CNC

The African Producers Accelerator (APA) is a four month professional development programme supporting mid-career African film producers to strengthen their production companies, build sustainable business strategies, and sharpen the investment propositions of their slates. The programme combines tailored advisory support and industry engagement, culminating in an in-person lab in Cape Town and, in 2026, a second lab in Lagos for CANEX WKND.

At the 2026 Durban FilmMart, APA presents a showcase of five producers from the programme, each presenting a project from their current slate to industry, financiers and potential partners.

The 2026 APA programme is delivered by Big World Cinema in partnership with the Bertha Foundation, Just Films|Ford Foundation, Creative Africa Nexus (CANEX) and the National Film and Video Foundation of South Africa, in association with the Durban FilmMart Institute, and with thanks to the International Emerging Film Talent Fund.

Click on the following link to view projects for this showcase.

Start Time: 12:15
End Time: 13:15
Duration: 1h
Venue: Maharani Hotel – Tugela

Moderator:
Tamsin Ranger (Big World Cinema)

Start Time: 12:45
End Time: 13:45
Duration: 1h
Venue: Elangeni Hotel – Great Ilanga

Best of Cape Town International Animation Festival; African Roots Vol 1 & 2.

Twenty films, Nine Countries. Cape Town International Animation Festival presents African Roots: Vol. 1 & 2, a Pan-African and African diaspora collection of animated short films celebrating the breadth, creativity and imagination of African storytelling.

Across these two collections, viewers can enjoy a vibrant mix of stories, perspectives and animation styles. From intimate explorations of love, identity and self-discovery to bold adventures, myth, music, humour and fantastical worlds, African Roots: Vol. 1 & 2 brings together films that are moving, playful, surprising and visually inventive. Expect colourful characters, big ideas, unexpected journeys and stories that explore what connects us.

Vol. 2 Screening:

Crocodile Dance Teaser
Crocodile Dance is an animated feature thriller with elements of myth, science fiction and shades of horror set in a fictional West African town. It is the story of the magnificent griot, Roukia. We meet her in the West African seaside town of Itesi, where she delivers a powerful opera. After a fateful, romantic encounter with a local surfer, Biokun, she settles in this seeming promised land with a dark secret legacy: A curse.

Tribe
In a divided galaxy where only royals can wield magic and planets are ruled by fear — the paths of three unlikely teenagers – a timid girl with a dangerous gift, a disgraced prince out of his depth, and a fugitive with unpredictable powers and everything to lose — collide on a high-stakes mission that reveals they might be the key to saving their world.

Journey To Athlos
An athlete trains for Athlos NYC, finding purpose on the winding trails of Central Park, where every stride strengthens her resolve. Her journey leads to the Athlos stage, where she races before a roaring crowd. Beyond the finish line, an even greater reward awaits

Teddy on the Edge
A teddy bear, alone on the edge of a cliff contemplating ending it all, is interrupted by a wise old bunny rabbit with a life-affirming message to pass on – a whole new perspective that will change the way he views the gift of life going forward!

Bru & Boegie: METEORITE
After Bru’s animated movie idea about a looming meteorite is rejected – only for it to come true – Bru & Boegie must stop the Bru-shaped space rock using the power of their excellent music.

THE ADVENTURES OF PABLO
Pablo takes a plane for the first time.

SMASH!
COOL FROG learns the true meaning of SMASH from HEART GUY.

WHO KILLED CAPTAIN ALEX? THE RUSHIAN MASINARY
A family man who is no stranger to a gun is forced to fight for a gang in order to return home.

Rorisang & The Gurlz Back to School Mayhem
Rorisang’s first week back at school is anything but chill. Between dreary assemblies, strict teachers, and a oceans of homework, she’s already in deep. Luckily, her bestie Cassie is there to keep her grounded… and maybe help her stay out of trouble (maybe 😅).

HOPE
In HOPE, filmmaker and artist Jamal Ademola transforms the poetry of 2023 United States Youth Poet Laureate Salome Agbaroji into a cinematic meditation on imagination and renewal. Through live action and animation, the film asks how hope survives in times of uncertainty. Originally commissioned by Project Everyone and produced by WTBR, HOPE imagines what becomes possible when we allow ourselves to dream again.

A Living Tapestry

Start Time: 13:00
End Time: 14:00
Duration: 1h
Venue: Elangeni Hotel – Suite 5

This initiative of the Durban FilmMart to create a talent development ecosystem, the African Lab Showcase, brings together filmmakers participating in some of the most important Talent Development Labs on the continent to present their films in early development to key financiers. The Lab Showcase will see the participation of Habesha Creative Lab and Climate Story Labs Africa

Click on the following link to view projects for this showcase.

Start Time: 13:30
End Time: 14:30
Duration: 1h
Venue: Maharani Hotel – Tugela

Moderator:
Marion Schmidt (#DocSafe Initiative)

Presented in partnership with Cape Town International Animation Festival.

The world increasingly says it wants African stories. The problem is that wanting them, developing them, showcasing them and actually commissioning them are four very different things. Creators are being encouraged to be authentic while simultaneously being asked to make their authenticity commercially legible to someone else’s audience. Four creators discuss where they hold the line

Start Time: 14:15
End Time: 15:15
Duration: 1h
Venue: Elangeni Hotel – Suite 5

Panellists:
Nadia Darries (Goon Valley Animation)
Bill Masuku (Enigma Comix)
Jeani Varty (Bean Sprout)
Lola Aikins (Tshimologong Precinct/ Mollo Academy and Studio)
Kumbi Chitenderu (WATA)

Moderator:
Tshepo Moche (BAV Creative Studio)

Presented in partnership with the Documentary Filmmakers Association (DFA).

Every minute, thousands of videos are uploaded, countless stories are shared and audiences decide within seconds whether to keep watching or scroll on. Documentary no longer exists in a world where filmmakers are the primary gatekeepers of truth or storytelling. Everyone now carries a camera, publishes content and shapes public narratives. As viewing habits evolve across streaming platforms, YouTube, TikTok and social media, documentary filmmakers face both an opportunity and a challenge: How do we preserve the depth, ethics and craft of documentary while responding to audiences who increasingly expect immediacy, participation and constant engagement? This panel explores how documentary is adapting to a rapidly changing media landscape. From citizen journalism and creator culture to Netflix pacing, vertical storytelling and the decline of traditional gatekeepers, we’ll ask what remains uniquely documentary in a world where everyone can tell a story. Together we’ll explore how documentary is responding to a profound shift in how stories are created, shared and experienced and whether documentary should evolve to changing audiences, challenge algorithms, or carve out new spaces for slow, thoughtful storytelling.

Start Time: 13:45
End Time: 14:45
Duration: 1h
Venue: Elangeni Hotel – Suites 3+4

Panellists:
Jacqui Hlongwane (South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC))
Jane Lipman (DFA Board Member/ Member of the Foreign Correspondents Association/ Channel 4)
Catherine Meyburgh (South African Guild of Editors (SAGE))
Diliza Moabi (Wanaya Visuals)

Moderator:
Sara Chitambo-Hatira (Documentary Filmmakers Association)

Brazilian film organisations are actively investing in stronger ties with the African continent, recognising shared cultural heritage and untapped creative synergies. This session explores the growing momentum behind Brazil-Africa Co-production, spotlighting the institutions, funds and initiatives driving this collaboration forward. Panellists discuss what makes Brazil an increasingly attractive Co-production partner, the opportunities available to African filmmakers and practical pathways for building lasting creative and financial partnerships between the two regions.

Start Time: 13:45
End Time: 14:45
Duration: 1h
Venue: Elangeni Hotel – Suites 1+2

Panellists:
Márcio Yatsuda (Movioca)
Tom Pinheiro (APAN)

Presented in partnership with Doc Society, The StoryBoard Collective, Documentary Africa (DocA), Perspective Fund, Real Reel Impact, Climate Story Labs Africa (CSLA), DocuBox, UCT Centre for Film and Media Studies, Plexus Films, Climate Story Lab ZA, South x Sul Network, Earth Alliance and UMI Fund.

Building a more sustainable, coordinated impact infrastructure across the continent.Impact producing and storytelling-for-change work has grown significantly on the continent over the past decade, but much of it remains project-based, siloed and reliant on external funding cycles. This closed door session convenes impact funders and organisations running impact programs across the continent to think through what the field needs for the next level. How we grow and retain skilled impact talent, how we measure and evidence long-term change over single-campaign outputs and how more coordinated impact plans could help the field leverage shared resources. The session will also explore how we tap into existing networks across other disciplines and civil society to strengthen this infrastructure. It is a working room for funders and practitioners to shape what the field needs to sustain itself into its next decade.

Closed Session

Start Time: 14:00
End Time: 15:30
Duration: 1.5h 
Venue: Elangeni Hotel – The Grill

Presented in partnership with the Nature, Environment and Wildlife Filmmakers (NEWF).

Wildlife cinematography demands more than technical skill. It requires patience, preparation, an understanding of animal behaviour and the ability to respond when nature refuses to read the script. Using clips and sequences as case studies, NEWF Fellows at various stages of their cinematography practice unpack how they film topside, underwater and from the air. From lenses, light and camera movement to positioning within unpredictable environments, they share their creative and technical decisions and how they adapt to capture behaviour, create emotion and build sequences that serve the larger story.

Start Time: 15:00
End Time: 16:00
Duration: 1h
Venue: Elangeni Hotel – Suites 1+2

Panellists:
Chisomo Kawaga 
Nkosikhona Mthembu
Carlos Norhona 
Elshadaye Temesgen

Moderator:
Nathan Rice (Untitled Entertainment)

Presented in Partnership with the High Commission of Canada Trade Office.

Durban FilmMart delegates will have the opportunity to meet selected film professionals from Canada with the opportunity to finance, distribute, co-produce and collaborate.

Start Time: 15:00
End Time: 16:30
Duration: 1.5h
Venue: Maharani Hotel – Tugela

Moderator:
Mitchell Harper (CTRL. ALT. SHIFT)

African film industries are growing. Audiences are expanding, co-production frameworks are multiplying and capital, both public and private, is arriving in new forms. But growth without protection is fragile. As the economic stakes of African cinema increase, the question of who is structurally positioned to defend the interests of filmmakers and audiences becomes more urgent, not less.

This panel brings together representatives from organisations doing active advocacy and lobbying work in the African film space, from guilds and professional associations to filmmaker collectives and civil society bodies engaged in policy, to examine what advocacy looks like in practice across different national and regional contexts and what the industry still lacks.
The conversation will address the hard questions: where advocacy has succeeded and where it has failed; what it takes to build an organisation with genuine political leverage; how filmmakers engage with governments who may not yet understand or value the economic and cultural contribution of the sector; and how audiences, too often absent from industry conversations, fit into the advocacy picture.

Start Time: 15:00
End Time: 16:00
Duration: 1h
Venue: Elangeni Hotel – Suites 3+4

Panellists:
Hicham Falah (FIDADOC/ La Ruche documentaire/ Cinema Salama)
Susan Mbogo (Docubox)
Serge Noukoué (Okada Media Distribution)

Moderator:
Lara Utian-Preston (Ladima Foundation)

Presented in partnership with Cape Town International Animation Festival.

An interactive workshop and ‘heartical’ conversation, bringing women in African animation and gaming together to look beyond the usual industry conversations and towards each other. Through playful prompts and shared stories, we’ll uncover what connects us and what quietly holds us back. We’ll leave with new connections, different perspectives and shared insights. To begin building the bridges we need – because we can’t build a more empowered creative community alone.

Start Time: 15:30
End Time: 16:30
Duration: 1h
Venue: Elangeni Hotel – Suite 5

Panellists:
Kumbi Chitenderu (WATA)
Tshepo Moche (Play Nice Pictures)
Kaydee de Villiers (WATA)

Presented in partnership with Doc Society, The StoryBoard Collective, Documentary Africa (DocA), Perspective Fund, Real Reel Impact, Climate Story Labs Africa (CSLA), DocuBox, UCT Centre for Film and Media Studies, Plexus Films, Climate Story Lab ZA, South x Sul Network, Earth Alliance and UMI Fund.

A working session on what it will take to circulate ready African stories for real-world change now. This session is bringing together a group of partners to unpack what a “”film transmission system”” for Africa could look like. This is infrastructure that helps already completed film slates move from screen to impact for social discourse now. Drawing on models like South by South (El Sur De Proyecta), When we meet and Movimenta – these partners will be invited to share how their circulation models are working. The room will unpack shared capacity across the continent on: rights support, Impact reach, audience segmentation, regional civil society partnerships and the infrastructure that helps films reach and hold audiences at the most basic foundational level. It’s a candid working room for funders, distributors and filmmakers to think together about what a genuinely African-led version of a transmission system could look like.

Closed Session

Start Time: 15:30
End Time: 17:00
Duration: 1.5h
Venue: Elangeni Hotel – The Grill

Presented in partnership with the Nature, Environment and Wildlife Filmmakers (NEWF).

Stories about the natural world are not only about wild places. They are also about food, memory, justice, coexistence, health, climate and the choices we make every day. This discussion brings together NEWF Fellows behind films exploring indigenous foodways, land restitution and conservation, human-elephant coexistence, and the legacy of Libreville’s largest dump. Through their distinct films and filmmaking approaches, the panel explores the breadth of natural-world storytelling and the relationships between people and place. Together, these films reveal both the wonder and beauty of nature and the environmental challenges shaping lives and futures across the African continent.

Start Time: 16:15
End Time: 17:15
Duration: 1h
Venue: Elangeni Hotel – Suites 1+2

Panellists:
Nondumiso Masache (Zenkosi Films)
Matamba Kombila (Dougantsi Films)
Anthony Ochieng Onyango (TonyWild/ TonyWild Foundation)

Moderator:
Thihangwi Ramutsindela (Nga Maanda Awe Film Festival/ NEWF)

Presented in partnership with Tunga Media Afrika.

Over the past two decades, African cinema has grown remarkably in production, festival circulation, streaming visibility and international recognition. Yet its distribution still leans on a narrow set of channels, where education, if it features at all, is treated as one of the last windows in the chain. In a market like Africa, where the median age is barely 20 and more than 60% of the population is under 25, education is not a marginal afterthought. It is where the majority of the audience actually sits.

This structured In Conversation session brings together industry and academia to explore African film as a source of knowledge and education as an emerging market across the continent. The conversation examines institutional licensing, rights and pricing, audience development, curriculum relevance and the proposition of Film as Knowledge. The session closes with two open invitations: to scholars and educators to contribute to the Journal of African Film in Education, and to filmmakers to submit their films for educational distribution.

Start Time: 17:30
End Time: 18:30
Duration: 1h
Venue: Elangeni Hotel – Suites 1+2

Speakers:
Cindy Makandi (Tunga Media Afrika)
Dr. Rachael Diang’a (USIU-Africa)

Presented in partnership with the Independent Producers Organisation (IPO)

South Africa’s film incentive programme stands at a critical juncture. This panel will examine the challenges currently facing the programme, assess the progress made by the Save SA Film & TV Jobs Coalition, and consider what is needed to restore stability, confidence and competitiveness. The discussion will also explore the future of the incentive and its vital role in attracting investment, supporting production and creating sustainable jobs.

Start Time: 16:15
End Time: 17:15
Duration: 1h
Venue: Elangeni Hotel – Suites 3+4

Panellists:
Delon Bakker (Mannequin Films)
Paul Buys (Rose and Oaks Media)
Wandile Molebatsi (Coal Stove Pictures)
Luke Rous (Rous House Production)

Moderator:
Jade Gezane (Independent Producers Organisation (IPO))

Presented in partnership with Cape Town International Animation Festival.

Curious about how animation could bring your project to life? Join us for a fast-paced introduction to the animation production process, designed to demystify how it all works and where you can fit into the process.
Following the presentation, meet representatives from eight different animation studios. Each studio will be available to discuss your project, answer your questions and help you understand how animation could work for your needs.

Start Time: 16:30
End Time: 17:30
Duration: 1h
Venue: Elangeni Hotel – Suite 5

Vertical dramas have exploded onto the international scene, reshaping how stories are consumed on mobile-first platforms and unlocking new revenue models for creators. This session examines the format’s rapid global rise and its emerging footprint on the African continent, where creators are beginning to experiment with the form. Panellists explore what makes vertical drama distinct as a storytelling medium, the opportunities and challenges it presents for African filmmakers and whether this fast-growing format could become a viable new pathway for content and commerce on the continent.

Start Time: 17:30
End Time: 18:30
Duration: 1h
Venue: Elangeni Hotel – Suites 3+4

Panellists:
Minnie Harris (MTN)
Flavia Motsisi (Both Worlds Pictures)
Pepsi Pokane (Stained Glass TV)
Hlomla Dandala (Digicine)

Moderator:
Nataleah Hunter-Young (University of Toronto)

Start Time: 19:30
End Time: 21:30
Duration: 2h
Venue: Maharani Hotel – Tugela