The 78th Locarno Film Festival runs from August 6 to 16, 2025, in Locarno, Switzerland. As part of this year’s edition, the festival launches the first installment of its four-year Africa-focused Open Doors cycle (2025–2028), a program structured around co-production support, producer development, curated screenings, and artist residencies for filmmakers from 42 African countries.
The cycle follows a three-year engagement with Latin America and the Caribbean and is delivered in collaboration with the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), part of Switzerland’s Federal Department of Foreign Affairs.
Twelve participants make up the core of this year’s program: six projects selected for the Open Doors Projects platform and six early-career producers participating in the Open Doors Producers program. An additional group of directors and films selected for Open Doors Screenings and the Directors program completes the 2025 structure.
Zsuzsi Bánkuti, Head of Open Doors, described the new cycle as a commitment to “supporting filmmakers working in contexts where artistic freedom is often challenged” and to amplifying “a strong slate of predominantly first and second-time filmmakers whose inventive approaches and formal experimentation signal a bold evolution in global cinematic storytelling.”
Over the past month, I’ve spoken with members of the Artistic Team responsible for selecting and shaping the 2025 African cohort: Tiny Mungwe (South Africa), Yanis Gaye (Senegal/France), Julia Duarte (Brazil/Portugal), Mitchell Harper (South Africa), Marjorie Bendeck (Honduras/Germany), and Delphine Jeanneret (Switzerland).
What follows is a synthesis of those conversations, documenting how the program is designed, what types of support it can realistically offer, and how the team approached the overall task of curating the first year of the initiative’s Africa cycle, operating across regions, languages, and production realities, bringing a range of experience across Africa, Latin America, and Europe.
The team operates under an agreement between Locarno and Gaye’s collective, Yetu Unlimited, a consortium of five African production companies working across Senegal, France, and other territories, which serves as co-curator of the Open Doors program.
Ibee Ndaw (Gambia) was not available at the time the interviews were conducted.
And while Bánkuti and Sarah Schiesser, Deputy Coordinator of Open Doors, are in the leadership team, they were not part of the interview series, which, as planned, focused on the Artistic Team’s curatorial roles and decision-making.
Context: Shifts in European–African Collaboration
Over the past two decades, co-production dynamics between Europe and Africa have changed. “In the late 90s and early 2000s, there was a tendency to shape films around what Western funders wanted to see,” said Marjorie Bendeck, who oversees the Open Doors co-production platform. “That often meant emphasizing poverty or rural hardship, because that’s what the funding prioritized.”
She noted that public funds, including the World Cinema Fund in Germany and the SØR Fund in Norway, helped shift that pattern. “They didn’t offer huge amounts of money, but they gave space for filmmakers to tell their own stories on their own terms.”
Bendeck said Open Doors Africa is part of a wider transition: “The point is not to replace African structures. It’s to support them in ways that don’t distort what’s already there.”
Eligibility, Viability, and Selection
Eligibility was limited to 42 African countries, but the final selection was not driven by regional balance or thematic coverage. Instead, the focus was on whether each applicant had the infrastructure, timeline, and positioning to benefit from the platform’s development structure.
“There’s a difference between a good idea and a good fit,” said Marjorie Bendeck, who oversees the co-production platform. “We looked at the applicant’s structure, their development timeline, and what the opportunity could actually do for them at this moment.”
Julia Duarte, who leads matchmaking between participants and international partners, emphasized long-term potential over polish. “The question is whether the producer has enough momentum, and clarity, to make this experience productive,” she said. As a Brazilian curator with experience across Latin America and Africa, Duarte draws on shared histories between Brazil and the continent to guide her process.
Several team members described the selection as shaped by constraints, not ideals. “We weren’t trying to fulfill a list,” said Mitchell Harper. “We were trying to select people who had something they could act on immediately, and who could hold their ground once they got here.”
That applied equally to the team’s role. “We work off the work and labor done consistently by organizations already active on the continent,” said Yanis Gaye. “We provide something complementary rather than competitive.”
Tiny Mungwe linked that stance to how African film is often positioned internationally. “There’s something very colonial about this programming line of discovering, unearthing, pioneering,” she said. “As African practitioners, we stand on the shoulders of trailblazers—filmmakers and producers who did the hard work to give us a space to take off in our own careers.”
The 2025 cohort includes participants from DR Congo, Zimbabwe, Senegal, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Kenya, Burkina Faso, Angola, Rwanda, Ivory Coast, and Mali. Lusophone, Francophone, and Anglophone countries are all represented.
“There are regions we hoped to see represented that didn’t appear in strong numbers this year,” said Harper. “But our job wasn’t to force representation. It was to assess what came in and choose accordingly.”
Team members pointed to Central Africa and parts of North Africa as areas with low submission volume. Duarte noted that Open Doors will need to focus on more targeted outreach in the next three years to ensure that those gaps aren’t repeated.
“Eligibility doesn’t guarantee access,” she said. “In some cases, it’s clear that the application process itself excludes people, because they don’t have the materials, the support, or the time to submit in the first place.”
According to Gaye, part of the team’s role going forward is to map where the obstacles are infrastructural and where they’re informational. “Some producers just didn’t know about the call,” he said. “Others knew, but weren’t in a position to apply.”
Development, Not Just Exposure
While Open Doors Projects and Producers are housed within Locarno Pro, the festival’s industry platform, the program is not structured around visibility. All twelve participants will present their work publicly during the festival, but the emphasis is on development—building professional relationships, refining strategy, and positioning participants for long-term growth across African and international networks.
“There’s a tendency to think that programs like this are about the pitch,” said Mungwe. “But in most cases, it’s not the pitch that matters. It’s the follow-up. Do they have anyone they can call six months from now? Do they understand what the next step is?”
This year’s edition included an extended eight-week online preparation phase prior to the in-person residency. That period involved SWOT exercises, feasibility assessments, and tailored feedback sessions. Guest mentors included Senegalese filmmaker Mamadou Dia and editor Nadia Ben Rachid, best known for her work with Abderrahmane Sissako. Practical support—like visa assistance—was also embedded into the program’s design.
One workshop reversed the usual dynamic: Open Doors Producers gave feedback on external project submissions, rather than receiving it from European professionals. “That turned out to be one of the most important moments of the program,” said Gaye. “Our producers pinned that session as one of the most significant for them.”
Several team members emphasized that the strongest producers were those thinking structurally—building production companies, developing slates, and planning for sustainability beyond a single project. “We’re not just helping people finish a film,” said Harper. “We’re trying to support people who are figuring out how to stay in this field.”
“There’s a lot of enthusiasm around African cinema,” added Gaye. “But not all of that enthusiasm is useful. We’re trying to make sure this program is useful.”
Mungwe framed the program as a practical response to real disconnection: “Within the continent, we’re always having to go outside to connect with each other. So this is a meeting point for us, outside the continent.”
She also challenged the economic imbalance embedded in international funding systems: “How can we move from Black stories and white money to having infrastructure for funding our films from within the continent?”
Structural Revisions from the Latin America Cycle
The Open Doors Africa cycle builds on lessons from the program’s previous three-year focus on Latin America and the Caribbean. While that cycle had artistic value, team members said several structural elements were rethought for this new phase.
“We revised how the Directors program is run,” said Delphine Jeanneret. “The artists selected this year are being given more time, more targeted exchanges, and a different rhythm. It’s not about producing a result. It’s about strengthening their position.”
Bendeck said the team is also working to improve long-range tracking of the participants. “We want to know where these people are a year from now, and three years from now, not just in August.”
Harper addressed the broader institutional shift: “Locarno is perceived as very old school and elitist. This is a shift. But the shift has to happen internally, structurally. This is the first time they moved with intention and openness to our inputs, in an attempt to expand the festival’s programming beyond its historical focus on European arthouse cinema.”
Broader African Presence at Locarno 2025
Beyond Open Doors, African and diaspora stories appear across multiple sections of Locarno 2025.
The International Competition includes “Mektoub, My Love: Canto Due” by French-Tunisian director Abdellatif Kechiche.
The Out of Competition section features “Exile,” a Tunisia–Luxembourg–France–Qatar–Saudi Arabia co-production directed by Mehdi Hmili.
The Semaine de la Critique presents “Silent Legacy,” a documentary about Burkinabé griot Sibiry Konate, co-directed by Finnish filmmakers Jenni Kivistö and Jussi Rastas, with Burkinabé producer Mamounata Nikièma.
The Locarno Kids section includes “Fantastique,” a magic-realist documentary by Dutch director Marjolijn Prins, centered on a 13-year-old circus performer in Guinea.
The Pardi di Domani short film competition features “Cairo Streets” by Moroccan writer and filmmaker Abdellah Taïa.
Open Doors Screenings present 13 curated films from across the continent. Notable titles include:
- “Ancestral Visions of the Future” by Lemohang Jeremiah Mosese (Lesotho)
- “Nome” by Sana Na N’Hada (Guinea-Bissau), co-produced with France, Portugal, and Angola
- “When Nigeria Happens” by Ema Edosio Deelen (Nigeria), a 120-minute contemporary dance film in Pidgin
Open Doors Runs August 7–12
The Open Doors Projects and Producers programs run during the first week of Locarno Pro, the festival’s industry platform. Participating directors will also take part in artist development sessions throughout the festival. Open Doors Screenings will run concurrently within the public program.
The selected Open Doors Projects are:
• “Les Bilokos” (DR Congo) – Dir. Erickey Bahati, Prod. Giresse Kassonga
• “Journal Intime d’une Femme-Chèvre” (Ivory Coast/Burkina Faso) – Dir. Azata Soro, Prod. Nameita Lica Toure
• “The Fortunate” (Ethiopia) – Dir. Habtamu Gebrehiwot, Prod. Nahusenay Dereje
• “Kachifo (Till the Morning Comes)” (Nigeria) – Dir. Dika Ofoma, Prod. Blessing Uzzi
• “Lutteurs (Fighters)” (Senegal/France) – Dir. Alassane Sy, Prod. Jules Dieng
• “Black Snake” (Zimbabwe) – Dir. Naishe Nyamubaya, Prod. Sue-Ellen Chitunya
The Producers program includes:
• Kamy Lara (Uika Filmes, Angola) – “Vanda”
• Moustapha Sawadogo (Future Films, Burkina Faso) – “Princesse Téné”
• Leul Shoaferaw (WAG Entertainment, Ethiopia) – “The Headstone”
• June Wairegi (Giza Visuals, Kenya) – “The Color Yellow (Manjano)”
• Yannick Mizero Kabano (Imitana Productions, Rwanda) – “Mado”
• Kudakwashe Miss Maradzika (Lincoln Green Media, Zimbabwe) – “Death And Its Friends”
Awards totaling more than CHF 64,000 (around USD 71,000) will be announced on August 12. These include:
- The Open Doors Grant (CHF 50,000) – visions sud est + City of Bellinzona
- CNC Development Prize (EUR 8,000) – Centre national du cinéma et de l’image animée (France)
- Arte Kino International Prize (EUR 6,000) – Arte France
In-kind prizes come from partners including:
- World Cinema Fund (Germany)
- SØR Fund (Norway)
- International Film Festival Rotterdam (Netherlands)
- Tabakalera + San Sebastian Film Festival (Spain)
The first year of the four-year cycle begins August 7, 2025. A new group of producers and projects will be selected annually through 2028.
Akoroko’s upcoming Locarno coverage will include interviews with Open Doors filmmakers and producers, reporting from industry events, and coverage of select African film screenings.