(Realness
Pan African Screenwriters’ Residency participants Wim Steytler, Amira Tajdin,
Sheetal Magan, Hiwot Admasu & Luck Razanajaona)
Following an exciting first year of searching for, identifying and
nurturing groundbreaking African stories, Realness Pan African Screenwriters’
Residency reflects proudly on their inaugural year of championing African film
and putting focus on story development.
Presented by pioneering film company Urucu Media, Realness was
established in 2016 with the aim of providing the best talent on the continent
with the space, time and support necessary to create and develop their vision.
“Five screenwriter/directors were selected to
participate in 2016 and each were in different stages of development with their
feature fiction projects which, combined with their diversity of backgrounds,
made the residency an invigorating and stimulating experience,” says
Realness founder Elias Riberio.
“We will do everything within our reach to see these projects transition
from the concept, to the page and finally to the screen.”
After attending Durban FilmMart (DFM) as Durban Talents in 2016, the
Realness residents worked at Nirox in the Cradle of Humankind for six weeks
under the mentorship of Nadja Dumochel and Selina Ukwuoma. Following this they
had a further six weeks to polish their work from home and submit the drafts to
the awards committees.
Kenyan writer/director Amira Tajdin’s script for Hawa Hawaii (in
fourth draft when selected for the residency) was awarded three invitations
from her participation. Her producer Wafa Tajdin attended Torino Meetings
Event, a financing market in Turin, Italy where she secured international
co-producers. They have been invited to attend La Fabrique des Cinemas du Monde
in Cannes this year followed by a pre-production and financing workshop at
MIDPOINT in Macedonia (June) and Prague in October.
South African writer/ director Wim Steytler’s project Uitlander, which was in first draft on
selection , went on to be invited to three international
platforms including the NFVF/CNC co-production workshop in Paris, EAVE
Producer’s Workshop and more recently La Fabrique des Cinémas du Monde in Cannes.
Steytler says “I have new hope for the South African film industry where auteur driven
films can be celebrated locally and reach an international audience. Realness
is tangibly facilitating a new wave in African cinema.”
Madagascar, writer/director Luck Razanajaona who brought his film Disco Afrika to the residency at third draft says that participation in the residency
gave him an opportunity to develop a clear structure and characters. Through
the partnership between DFM and Realness, Luck also took his project to
Cinemart in Rotterdam and won a cash award from Organisation Internationale de
la Francophonie.
Ethiopian filmmaker Hiwot Admasu, whose project A Fool of God was
in its treatment phase upon coming to Realness, used the time in the residency
to further develop the central themes and begin the screenwriting process. She
was awarded participation to the Locarno Filmmakers Academy in Switzerland and
upon arrival won another residency award; she had another three months of
writing in Wintitour.
Finally, South African filmmaker Sheetal Magan participated in Realness
with her feature film concept The Day and Night of Brahma, which also
came into the residency as a treatment. “Gaining exposure to the script consultants took me to a deeper and more
considered exploration of my film,” says Magan.
Looking ahead, the Realness team is assessing applications to the second
edition. Over a hundred submissions were made with applications coming in from 25
countries across the continent including Angola, Côte d’Ivoire, DRC, Morocco,
Togo, Nigeria and Rwanda.
“We worked hard to encourage more applications from the rest of the
continent and are proud to have achieved this.” says co-founder Cait Pansegrouw
“Over 70% of our applications came from outside of South Africa this year.
The 2017 edition of Realness takes place in June and July 2017 at the
Nirox Foundation, culminating in participation in the Durban FilmMart at the
Durban International Film Festival. Announcement of this year’s participants
will take place at the Cannes Film Festival.
For more information on Realness, African Screenwriters residency, contact
realness@urucumedia.com
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