Durban FilmMart announces 2020 Talents Durban participants

Talents Durban is a development programme presented in cooperation with Berlinale Talents, an initiative of the Berlin International Film Festival, made up of workshops and seminars for African filmmakers, delivered by film industry professionals and academics.

This year, Talents Durban introduces 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, 26 projects and six film critics from 19 countries across the continent made the final cut with six fiction features, three TV/web series, three animations, six documentaries, six fiction shorts films and six film critics have been selected.

In addition to these 32 Talents, 2019 alumnus Talents award-winner Xola Mteto will present his project Twelve Pangas along with 30 other projects at the DFM’s Finance Forum.

Official 2020 Talents Durban participants and projects

Fiction feature selection:

10.628 (Tunisia) Director: Issam Bouguerra
Behind High Walls (South Africa) Director: Jonathan Kyriakou
Between Worlds (Uganda) Screenwriter: Adong Judith
Extravagant Ways to Say Goodbye (South Africa) Screenwriter: Liese Kuhn
Ndi & Friends (Cameroon) Director: Nkuh Paul Samba
Objective Fespaco (Ivory Coast) Director: Yoan Sea Douin Guelaté Casimir

Fiction shorts selection:

Happiness (Morocco) Director: Aymen El Hankouri
Kidawa (Tanzania) Director: Florence Mkinga
Paulina (South Africa) Screenwriter: Hlumela Matika
Our Identity (Benin) Director: Dossou Gildas
The Last Scar (Cameroon) Director: Stella Tchuisse
The Robot’s Last Job (South Africa) Screenwriter: Neo Sibiya

Documentary selection:

Black People Don't Get Depressed (South Africa) Director: Sara Chitambo
I might not normally share this (Egypt) Director: Noura Sharaf
No winners in war (Botswana) Director: Tricia Laone Sello
Nzonzing (Democratic Republic of Congo) Director: Moimi Wezam
To Be Loved (Togo) Director: Palakiyem Kpatchaa
Their Choir (Morocco) Director: Zineb Chafchaouni
The Kingdom of Masindi (South Africa) Director: Dowelani Edward Nenzhelele

Animation selection:

The Fam (South Africa) Director: Kabelo Maaka
The Elected (Togo) Director: Kossi Messan Akoda
Lwanda Magere (Kenya) Director: Mark Kinuthia

TV and web series selection:

The Oath (South Africa) Director: Johannes Mzwandile Spirit
Dilema (Kenya) Screenwriter: Voline Ogutu
Leviathan (Cape Verde) Director: Nuno Pereira
Inside (Rwanda) Screenwriter: Denis Valery Ndayishimiye

Talent press (film critic journalist) selection:

Amarachukwu Iwuala (Nigeria)
Donald Matthys (Namibia)
Elinoro Véronique Rajaonah (Madagascar)
Mohamed Moawad (Egypt)
Taryn Joffe (South Africa)
Tsakane Shikwambana (South Africa)

The 13th edition Talents Durban, takes on the overarching DFM theme of ‘brave new cinema’ as African film professionals gather to connect, benchmark, share ideas, collaborate, pitch, learn and market their pan-African work in a global context.

This year, we are excited that going virtual has meant we can welcome more projects from across the continent with a programme that will be delivered in two additional languages; French and Portuguese,” says head of the DFM Toni Monty. “This means increased opportunities for African filmmakers to connect across the post-colonial divides and create new robust synergies and networks.

The Talents will participate in several project-oriented, hands-on skills development programmes. Practical professional development sessions within Talents Durban include Story Junction sessions in which they present their projects, masterclasses, and one-on-one mentorships. Mentors this year for projects are Moussa Sene Absa, Trish Malone, Jihan El-Tahri , Nadine Cloete, Kethiwe Ngcobo, Isaac Mogajane, Tracey-Lee Rainers, Newton Aduaka and for the film critics, this year’s mentors include Wilfred Okiche and Djia Mambu.

In addition, the Talents will have access to the various DFM sessions that include webinars, and panel discussions with renowned industry filmmakers.

www.durbanfilmmart.co.za