The 2020 participants for Talents Durban.
The Durban FilmMart Institute is proud to announce the participants of the 13th edition of Talents Durban, within the official 11th Durban FilmMart virtual edition, which takes place from September 4 to 13.
Talents Durban is a development programme presented in co-operation 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 are able to welcome more projects from across the continent with a programme that will be delivered in two additional African languages- French and Portuguese, This means increased opportunities for African filmmakers to connect across the post-colonial divides and create new robust synergies and networks,” said head of DFM, Toni Monty.
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.
Talents Durban is an initiative of the Durban FilmMart Institute in cooperation with Berlinale Talents, with support from the Durban Film Office.
Talents Durban is one of seven Talents International Programmes formed by Berlinale Talents in Africa and around the world including Talents Beirut in Lebanon, Talents Buenos Aires in Argentina, Talents Sarajevo in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Talents Tokyo in Japan, Talents Guadalajara in Mexico and Talent Press Rio.
