The Durban FilmMart Institute is proud to announce the participants of the 14th edition of Talents Durban, which takes place virtually during the Durban FilmMart from 16-25 July.
Initiated by the Berlin International Film Festival and Berlinale Talents, Talents Durban is an important partner programme of the Durban FilmMart Institute. This training and development platform offers the selected Talent participants a 6-week mentorship and an opportunity to present their film projects to an international market.
“Working with international partners is key to providing African filmmakers access to international markets and this is a strategic goal of the Durban FilmMart Institute,” says Magdalene Reddy, acting General Manager of the Durban FilmMart Institute.
“Now celebrating 14 years in Africa, the 2021 edition of Talents Durban will introduce Francophone projects from the African diaspora as it continues to inspire a sense of community on the continent by representing many languages and cultures.”
After a rigorous adjudication process, 28 film projects and 6 film critics from 15 countries across the continent made the final cut with 6 fiction features, 4 episodics (TV/Web series), 5 animations, 6 documentaries, 7 fiction short films, and 6 film critics being selected.
Talents Durban 2021 Selection:
Fiction Feature:
Kinafo, (COTE D’IVOIRE), Animation Director, Adja Soro
The Northern Lights (L’Aurore Boréale), (TUNISIA), Director, Oubeyd Ayari
Dance Rosa! (Rosa Baila!), (MOZAMBIQUE), Screenwriter, Milvia Atiana
Bushrider (Bosryer), (SOUTH AFRICA), Director, Aadil Dhalech
Yvette, (KENYA), Director, Se’ydou Mukali
The Path of Ruganzu (Part 2), (SIERRA LEONE), Director, Lloyd Zachariah
Fiction Shorts:
Whispers from my Mother (KENYA), Director, Patricia Geula
The Lantern (La Lanterne), (BENIN), Director, Nelly Behanzin
Trouble (Wahala), (NIGERIA), Director, Sunny King
Crisis, (COTE D’IVOIRE), Director, Rita Ambeu
The Pet, (CAMEROON), Director Njitam Amos
Why the Cattle Wait (SOUTH AFRICA), Director, Phumi Morare
Mob Passion, (SOUTH AFRICA), Director, Twiggy Matiwana
Documentary:
Fanta Sacko, (MALI) Director, Kanouté Kankou
Hear Me Out, (SOUTH AFRICA) Director, Celean Nacken
A History of Distance, (SOUTH AFRICA) Director, Michael James
Solo Moms, (NIGERIA) Screenwriter, Ann Sarafina
Searching for Woody, (EGYPT) Director, Sara Shazli
Terror Scars (Marcas de Terrorismo), (MOZAMBIQUE) Director, Elisio Bajone
Animation:
Egg (YAI), (KENYA), Screenwriter, Justus Macharia
The Stonemason, (SOUTH AFRICA), Animation Director, Erentia Bedeker
Twins (Ibeji), (NIGERIA), Screenwriter, Omotunde Akiode
Lioness (La Lionne), (DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO), Director, Christian Mokuba
The Memory Keepers (Les Gardiens de la Mémoire), (COTE D’IVOIRE) Animation Director, Roland “Kouadio” Oka
Episodic:
Choice Assorted, (SOUTH AFRICA) Screenwriter Obvious Nomaele
Meet My Family, (ZIMBABWE) Screenwriter Ian Msakanda
Outer Rim Job, (SOUTH AFRICA) Director Xolelwa “Ollie” Nhlabatsi
Adam to Eve, (KENYA) Director, Lizz Njagah
Talent Press (Film Critic / Journalist) Selection:
Hélio Nguane (MOZAMBIQUE)
Adham Youssef (EGYPT)
Aina Randrianatoandro (MADAGASCAR)
Thabisa Ngcobo (SOUTH AFRICA)
Precious “Mamazeus” Nwogu (NIGERIA)
Buule Gabriel (UGANDA)
“To support emerging talents and initiate sustainable creative collaboration and exchange across countries and between cultures has never been as important as in these times. Built up on the fundaments of a longstanding partnership, we cannot imagine a better home for the Talents Durban programme and its strong community of participants and alumni than the DFM,“ say Christine Tröstrum and Florian Weghorn, managers of Berlinale Talents at the Berlin International Film Festival.
Organised under the DFM theme of ‘Disrupt! The Shape of Stories to Come’, the 2021 Talents Durban will present a series of webinars titled Talent Filmmaker Talks which will be open to all DFM delegates. The programme will feature amongst others, Philippe Lacôte a Côte d’Ivoire film director whose latest film ‘Night of the Kings’ was awarded the Amplify Voices Award at the 2020 Toronto International Film Festival, South African producer Bonie Sithebe who co-owns Durban Motion Pictures a film, video and television company, and Nigerian filmmaker Kenneth Gyang whose film ‘Confusion Na Wa’ was a DFM project in 2010 that went on to accumulate a number of awards around the world, including Best Film at the 2013 African Movie Awards. A focus on film criticism will feature panelists Wanjeri Gakuru (Kenya), Charl Blignaut (South Africa) and Wilfred Okiche (Nigeria) and Lamia Chraibi (Tunisia).
With principal funding from the Durban Film Office and Ethekwini Municipality, the Durban FilmMart 2021 will present a comprehensive online programme of discussions, masterclasses and hangouts in addition to the Pitch and Finance Forum, thereby contributing to the growth of film industries across Africa.
Register for the Durban FilmMart here: https://durbanfilmmart.co.za/Delegate-Registration.aspx
The Durban FilmMart 2021 is produced by the Durban FilmMart Institute with principal funding from the Durban Film Office and Ethekwini Municipality.
The DFM 2021 virtual event is supported by the National Film and Video Foundation, KwaZulu-Natal Film Commission, Film and Publications Board, International Emerging Film Talent Association, Institut Francais – South Africa, Wesgro and Namibian Film Commission with the following programme partners – AfriDocs and Avek, Berlinale Talent, Cape Town International Animation Film Festival, Digital Lab Africa, Documentary Filmmakers Association, Documentary Association of Europe, DOK.fest München, DOK Leipzig, Dolby, Durban International Film Festival, FidaDoc, Hot Docs Blue Ice Fund, Guangzhou International Documentary Film Festival, International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam, Independent Producers Organisation, Miradas Doc, Netflix, Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie, Produire au Sud, Rotterdam Cinemart, SASFED, South African Guild of Actors, Sørfond – Norwegian South Film Fund, SWIFT, Trace Studios, Writers Guild of South Africa.
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About Talents Durban
Talents Durban was founded in partnership with the Berlin International Film Festival and the Berlinale Talents initiative. The Berlinale partnership came into effect in 2019, as part of six international offshoots formed by the Berlin International Film Festival in close collaboration with regional festivals and institutes. The project takes place on an annual basis in Africa and around the world including Talents Beirut in Lebanon, Talents Buenos Aires in Argentina, Talents Sarajevo in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Talents Tokyo in Japan, Talents Guadalajara in Mexico and Talent Press Rio in Brazil.
For information about Berlinale Talents please visit www.berlinale-talents.de, more backgrounds about our Talents can be found at www.berlinale-talents.de/bt/go?id=FIFYFH.
