(Sharon Ngcobo,
marketing manager for DFO; filmmaker Philani Ndaba, & Tendeka Matatu from
Restless Talent Management)
This year’s 5th Durban FilmMart (DFM) has been a resounding
success with over 450 delegates in attendance from 32 countries, 24 workshop
and panel discussion programmes presented by 32 industry experts and
professionals, and over 900 official business meetings documented in the
Finance Forum - which excludes the frenzy of meetings that took place outside
of the Finance Forum room at the Elangeni Hotel.
The Durban FilmMart, is a joint initiative of the Durban
International Film Festival (DIFF) and Durban Film Office (DFO) funded through
the City of Durban, which took place in July at the Tsogo Sun Elangeni Hotel in
Durban.
Over the past five years, the Durban FilmMart has become
Africa’s most important film finance platform and has certainly created a
global buzz about Durban as a key destination for film business and tourism
alike.
“The City is honoured to be associated with the Durban
FilmMart, as it is a strategic platform to market the destination as an ideal
film location to potential film directors and producers, which will
significantly help boost the tourism industry,” says Head of Durban Tourism,
Phillip Sithole. “Durban is a diverse and culturally rich city with strong
African, Eastern and Western influences. Through the vast potential of the Film
industry, we would like to use the Durban FilmMart to market the destination on
a global level and this also aligns well to our strategy of Taking Durban to
the World.”
Every year the Durban FilmMart activities close with the
closing night awards dinner, where key local and international partners of the
annual co-production market, select a number of projects to receive development
support for their respective projects in the form of development grants or
invitations to attend partner markets. This year saw 10 awards presented,
guaranteeing these projects additional support and opportunities beyond Durban
FilmMart. Through an evaluation panel made up of local and international film
industry heavy weights, recipients of the 2014 DFM awards are as follows:
The CineMart Award, sponsored by the co-production market of
the International Film Festival Rotterdam, was awarded to Hawa Hawaii (Kenya / South Africa Co-production) – to be directed
by Amirah Tajdin and produced by Wafa Mohamed Tajdin, Bongiwe Selane, Helena
Spring and Junaid Ahmed. This award invites and sponsors the DFM 2014 fiction
winning project to attend the Rotterdam Lab, a five-day training and networking
event bringing together producers from all over the world.
For the ‘Most Promising Documentary Pitch’ award, sponsored
by the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA), has been
awarded to The Sound of Masks (South
Africa) – to be directed by Kofi Zwana and produced by Sara Gouveia. This award
will provide Kofi Zwana and Sara Gouveia with an invitation and travel support
to attend IDFA Forum.
The New Cinema Network award has been awarded to Alex on Seventh (South Africa) – to be
directed by Engelbert Phiri and produced by Guy Bragge. This award gives
Engelbert Phiri and Guy Bragge the opportunity to attend the 9th edition NCN in
Rome, taking place in October, with the chance to present their work to active
companies of the International Film industry.
The award sponsored by Produire au Sud of Festival des 3
Continents (Nantes), a developmental workshop programme aimed to familiarize
producers with a variety of important tools and international techniques, has
been awarded to Hawa Hawaii (Kenya /
South Africa Co-production) – to be directed by Amirah Tajdin and produced by
Wafa Mohamed Tajdin, Bongiwe Selane, Helena Spring and Junaid Ahmed, and Mrs Popplestone to be directed by Sarah
Ping Nie Jones and produced by Jean Meeran. These filmmakers will be given the
invaluable opportunity to attend the Produire au Sud (PAS) workshop, where they
will be given tools, expertise, and new connections especially with European
networks through this one week unique training programme.
The Docubox award, an East-African documentary film fund,
has been awarded to In search of African
Duende: The Uganda Flamenco Project (Uganda) – to be directed by Caroline
Kamya and produced by Keren Cogan. This Ugandan documentary project will have
the support for their non-Kenyan East African Documentary production with $2500
development funds.
Shattered by
Philani Ndaba won The Restless Pitch award, which is a one-year representation
deal for the project by Restless Talent Management, who provide development
services such as image-building and positioning, project packaging, PR, and
advises its clients on film sales, distribution and promotion.
Home Expulsion
(Rwanda) – to be directed and produced by Kayambi Musafiri was awarded with the
Organisation Internationale de Francophonie (OIF) award of €5000. While, The Wound (South Africa) – to be
directed by John Trengove and produced by Elias Ribeiro have been awarded the
ARTE France International Prize of €6000 for their feature film project.
The Videovision Entertainment Best South African Film
Project prize valued at R75,000, has been awarded to Nyanga Sky (South Africa) – to be directed by Matthew Griffiths and
produced by Rafeeqah Galant. This award guarantees Nyanga Sky a release once the project is completed and includes
marketing and distribution support from Videovision Entertainment.
Afridocs, a new award of €4000 that was inspired by the
Durban FilmMart events, was awarded to Amal
to be directed and produced by Mohamed Siam.
“The quality of projects presented this year were quite good”,
says ARTE France’s representative Rémi Burah. “There was a good balance in the
eclecticism of their subject and film style in which their directors wish to bring
their story to the screen. The diversity of countries represented emphasizes
the relevance to the DFM to play an important role as a platform for African
cinema. Our objective as a partner of DFM is of course to discover new African
projects. It is important that Africa keeps producing its own films and we want
to help.”
Durban Film Office’s Toni Monty concludes: “The 5th Durban
FilmMart has been one of the most dynamic one’s we’ve had. We have seen a
dramatic change over the past five years in how attending filmmakers engage
with guest financiers, funds, sales and distribution agents. The market is
maturing faster than we expected, the projects are getting stronger every year
and the filmmakers are well prepared to tackle the market when they arrive. For
us, this is an indication that the market is really working and the vision of
creating a credible platform to promote African stories has been achieved.
Together with the celebration of the 35th Durban International Film Festival,
Durban certainly rocked African Cinema this year! We extend a huge thank you to
our sponsors and partnerships, new and old, they have truly helped the DFM
reach its goals in helping African filmmakers access the market place and grow
their understanding of the business of film.”
For more information on the Durban FimMart visit www.durbanfilmmart.com
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