I hosted a session on African film financing during the third edition of FAME Week / MIP Africa last week in Cape Town, South Africa.
Titled “Bridging the Gap: Financing Africa’s Creative Future,” it brought together experts from various sectors of filmmaking and finance to explore the landscape of film financing within the continent, although with a heavy South Africa focus.
Recognizing that traditional panel discussions can fall short of providing actionable insights, I decided to shake things up.
With only an hour allotted, I presented the panelists with four realistic scenarios, each representing different stages of film production and the challenges faced by filmmakers across African countries:
- Scenario 1: A debut feature film by a South African filmmaker telling a culturally significant story needs seed funding to conduct research, develop the script further, and create a proof of concept. They also need guidance on securing co-production partners within South Africa and in other African countries.
- Scenario 2: A mid-budget thriller by a Nigerian filmmaker with moderate success in Nollywood. The filmmaker has already secured some local financing and is now seeking private investment and possibly international co-producers to make the film competitive in global markets.
- Scenario 3: A Kenyan documentary tackling certain social issues unique to East Africa has already been shot but needs funds for post-production, including editing, sound design, and color grading.
- Scenario 4: A renowned Tunisian filmmaker has completed an arthouse film that gained attention at local festivals and now needs support to secure international distribution, and festival placements, and develop a marketing strategy to reach audiences in Europe and North America.
Along with the panelists, we came up with possible real-world funding solutions to these hypothetical situations.
Akoroko Premium subscribers received a detailed write-up of the scenarios, challenges, and solutions, over the weekend. Subscribe to get it and much more: akoroko.com/subscribe