Deadline for applications: Sunday, February 1, 2026
Climbing the Mountains announced as winner of the New Documentary Award at DFM 2025.
Durban FilmMart Institute (DFMI) is proud to announce the winner of the new documentary award supported by Just Films to director, Sabrina Chebbi and producer, Kenji Accard for their feature documentary in development, Climbing the Mountains after pitching at the annual Durban FilmMart in July 2025.
The documentary aims to explore the transmission of trauma experienced by Algerian filmmaker, Sabrina Chebbi and is a poetic testament to the resistance of Kabylian grandmothers who are the living guardians of tradition and history.
This award of 10,000 USD is the first of a 4-year award partnership between Just Films and Durban FilmMart Institute.
The Durban FilmMart Institute thanks the jury for their careful consideration and deliberation on the project best deserving of this award. The independent jury included Jihan El-Tahri, producer, writer and director at Big Sister Productions, Mandisa Zitha, Festival Director of the Encounters South African International Documentary Festival and Steven Markovitz, producer, founder and director of Big World Cinema .
Applications for the DFM 2026 Pitch and Finance forum are
currently open for live action projects in development.
DFM Pitch and Finance
Forum Application criteria:
-The programme is open to African filmmakers with an active feature length or episodic live action project in development.
-The programme is open to both fiction and documentary projects.
-At least one of the three key creatives (Producer, Writer, Director) must be from Africa or African in the Diaspora (with an African passport). Should you have any questions regarding the acceptability of your documentation which connects you to the continent, especially if it is not an African passport, please write to DFMI via info@durbanfilmmart.com.
-Project applications must be completed in English, however the language of the project itself is up to the imagination of the filmmaker/ writer.
-At least one representative must be available to participate in the online masterclass and mentorship programme and be physically present in Durban for the duration of the 17th Durban FilmMart.
Applications can be made through the Durban FilmMart Institute website: https://durbanfilmmart.co.za/pitch-and-finance-forum-application/
Deadline
for applications: Sunday, February 1, 2026
To keep up to date on call-outs, filmmakers are encouraged to sign up for the DFMI newsletter on the website https://durbanfilmmart.co.za/ or follow on social media.
For more information, contact info@durbanfilmmart.com
Apply Here
https://durbanfilmmart.co.za/pitch-and-finance-forum-application/
Information about JustFilms
JustFilms, through Ford Foundation, supports independent
film and emerging media projects that explore urgent social justice issues and
seek to challenge inequality in all its forms. They also support the
organizations and networks that help further these projects. Funds are
distributed in two areas, social justice storytelling and 21st-century
infrastructure, which together aim to transform pervasive narratives that
produce and maintain inequality, and attract more resources for artist-driven
creative visual storytelling around the world.
https://www.fordfoundation.org/work/our-grants/justfilms/
About Durban FilmMart Institute
Durban FilmMart Institute is the business hub of the African
film industry in a world where professionals and products are globally
competitive and celebrated. The mission of the Durban FilmMart Institute is to
provide appropriate and effective programmes and services to promote, support
and facilitate investment in the African film industry. The Durban FilmMart
Institute runs year-round developmental programmes and an annual market (Durban
FilmMart). The DFMI has recently
launched Filmmart.africa which is an online tool for filmmakers to connect and
which we hope will enhance visibility for African content. For more information about the DFMI
programmes visit www.durbanfilmmart.co.za
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