The Durban FilmMart Institute is pleased to announce the participants of the 15th edition of Talents Durban, which takes place virtually during the Durban FilmMart from 22-31 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.
“We are excited to once again work with our international partners to provide a platform for African filmmakers to access the global market,” Magdalene Reddy, General Manager of the Durban FilmMart Institute said. “Now in its 15th year, the 2022 edition of Talents Durban will bring together creatives from across the continent whose work not only inspires but challenges industry norms,” Reddy added.
Following a meticulous adjudication process, 27 projects, and 4 film critics, representing 16 countries made the final selection.
Official Project Selection:
Features Selection:
Kwibuka or How We Remember the Ending of Time (Kenya) Director: Arnold Mwanjila
Eliane (Benin/Togo) Director: Beola Touggourt
The Ambitious (Les Ambitieux) (Togo) Director: Gilbert Bararmna-Boukpessi
And me too (وانا كمان ) (Egypt) Director: Sondos Shabayek
The Dark Cloud (Ifu Elimnyama) (South Africa) Screenwriter: Hallie Haller
One More Night in Lagos (Côte d’Ivoire) Director: Marina Niava
Documentaries Selection:
Kamina, The Forgotten City (Kamina, La Cité Oubliée) (Togo) Director: Yelebo Amanou
Nidhal (نِضال) (Tunisia) Animation Director: Bassem Ben Brahim
Genetic Dissonance (South Africa) Director: Gabriella Blumberg
Fragile (هش) (Egypt) Director: Sally Abo Basha
The Darker Side of Afrobeats (Nigeria) Director: Aderonke Adeola
Born Between The Cracks/Follow The Sun (Izingane Zodlame) (South Africa) Director: Nontobeko Yamantungwa Sibisi
Revenge Porn (Uganda) Director: Ruth Nazzinda
Shorts Selection:
The Lamb of Ha-‘Matli (Nku ea Sehlabelo) (Lesotho) Director: Phillip Leteka
Fleas (Amazeze) (South Africa) Director: Jordy Sank
The Last Tears of Eissa (Egypt) Director: Morad Mostafa
On the Edge (Bord a Bord) (Tunisia) Director: Sahar El Echi
Lost Things (Mamelles) (Senegal) Director: Mamadou Socrate Diop
Still Night (South Africa) Screenwriter: Veron Vadivelu
Episodic Selection:
Queens! (Kenya) Screenwriter: Lawrence Murage
Sowing Wild Oats (South Africa) Director: Lwazi Duma
The School of Life (A Escola da Vida) (Angola) Screenwriter: Ariel Casimiro
Gloria (Nigeria) Director: Adesua Okosun
Animation Selection:
Circus Odd (Swaziland) Screenwriter: Gcinaphi Dlamini
Ubizo (The Calling) (South Africa) Animation Director: Zamokuhle Thusi
Soul Tie (Namibia) Screenwriter: Micheal Pulse
The Bird and The Tree (Kenya) Animation Director: Stanslaus Manthi
Talent Press (Film Critic / Journalist) Selection:
Fabiola Uwera (Rwanda)
Jerry Chiemeke (Nigeria)
Dieubrebie Annick Rachelle Kandolo (Burkina Faso)
Merryn Haller (South Africa)
Project Mentors
This year’s Talents Durban mentors are made up of award-winning industry experts who have spent years crafting and honing their skill set.
Speaking this year is, Akosua Adoma Owusu, a Ghanaian-American filmmaker, producer, and educator whose work explores the colliding identities of black immigrants in America through multiple forms. She has screened extensively at festivals around the world.
Bongi Ndaba an acclaimed South African writer, producer, and director will give insight into his career. Having started in theater, Ndaba has moved into television where she continues to have her work featured at global festivals.
French and Burkinabè journalist and film critic, Claire Diao will also feature this year. She founded the 2013 Quartiers Lointains short film touring program and received the Beaumarchais Medal from the SACD.
Also up is Iman Djionne, a Senegalese director who has written and directed short films and audiovisual content. Her last short, Boxing Girl (La Boxeuse) was selected at several festivals, such as Louxor, POFF Shorts, and Cologne.
Another Senegalese who will be a mentor is Mamadou Dia, a film writer, and director. Her first feature was awarded a dozen prizes including two Golden Leopards for First Feature and Filmmakers of the Present at the Locarno International Film Festival.
Also featuring is Mohamed Siam, a member of The Academy-The Oscars, who is a fiction and documentary filmmaker. A grantee of Sundance, World Cinema Fund, Aide aux Cinémas du Monde for his films who have been screened in NYFF, Karlovy Vary, and Carthage, where he won The Grand Prize in 2018 and Best Cinematography in 2017 for his film WHOSE COUNTRY?
Attendees can also look forward to hearing from Mounia Aram who was born in Casablanca but grew up in France. Her passion for animation and video games has fared her well in her more than 19 years of experience and through her company, she continues to defend her belief that Africa is a continent that should matter.
Temporary production and development manager for non-fiction at the NFVF, Nadine Cloete, is another highlight this year. Having worked on a number of special projects, she is also an independent filmmaker.
Sara Blecher, the co-founder of Real Eyes Film, a boutique South African based production company that has made a number of award-winning features, documentaries, and drama series will also mentor this year.
“Sustainability is key to us and our partnership with the Durban FilmMart Institute. To spark change and establish a healthy, fair, and free-spirited environment for filmmakers and their stories take time and the deepest passion of those involved. Seeing Talents Durban prosper and with again also more alumni returning as mentors and decision-makers proof to us its strength as an important talent developer on the African continent and beyond,” said Christine Tröstrum and Florian Weghorn, Heads of Berlinale Talents.
In addition, Talents Durban Talks, a series of conversations with some of the continent’s most successful writers, directors, and film critics will be presented at the DFM 2022 online programme. These panel discussions will highlight some of the most innovative young African creatives interrogating processes of authenticity in writing for cultures across the continent. Discussions will feature director Amil Shivji of Zanzibar festival hit Tug of War, Mamadou Dia of Sengalese Nafi’s Daughter, and writer-director Jenna Cato Bass, who has followed her success with Flatland with a new horror film entitled Good Madam. In addition, the programme will probe the new spaces for film criticism, looking at the rise of podcasting and video essays amid a changing world where technology is increasingly entwining with film criticism. The discussion will feature Nikita Neo Mokgware and Yazz The Student from This Is Africa and Afriquan Film podcasts respectively.
DFM 2022 will be presented under the theme ‘Revolution Evolution: Changing the Narrative’ as both an online and physical programme during the period 22-31 July. Registrations are open for both online and physical participation at Durban FilmMart. Visit https://durbanfilmmart.
The Durban FilmMart Institute receives principal funding from the Durban Film Office and the eThekwini Municipality. The DFM 2022 event is kindly supported by the National Film and Video Foundation, KwaZulu-Natal Film Commission, and Wesgro.
ENDS
