The IPO represents, protects and promotes the interests of independent South African film, television and digital media producers and, in turn, all who work in and are suppliers to the industry value chain.

NEWS OPPORTUNITIES 

Realness Institute call for 2020 submissions

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The Realness African Screenwriters Residency has developed 20 film projects in 13 African countries its four years running. Lemohang Jeremiah Mosese’s 2017 Realness project, This Is Not a Burial, It’s a Resurrection, premiered at the Venice International Film Festival this year and has secured a North American premiere at a prestigious festival in the first quarter of 2020. Hiwot Adamasu’s 2016 Realness project, A Fool God premiered at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival and will have its European premiere in early 2020.

Creative Producer Indaba

Creative Producer Indaba is a year-long professional development programme that will bring together 15 participants to develop the capacity of producers on the continent and create a pan-African network of producing talent with the ability to bring African projects to the international market.

Creative Producer Indaba aims to empower producers from Africa with industry tools and business strategies for entrepreneurial development. Thereby expanding sustainable infrastructure and bridging the gap between financial support from North America and Europe, and the lack of policies and treaties in place that could catalyze this support.

Creative Producer Indaba is an initiative presented in partnership with EAVE, International Film Festival Rotterdam’s IFFR Pro and Sundance Institute.

Realness Residency

Realness Residency is six-week programme that takes place in the stunning Cradle of Humankind in South Africa, where the residents undergo focused incubation. Writers are given the space and support to refine their projects from a creative perspective, as well as to position their projects to industry partners for potential financing and production.

From the 2019 cohort, the following filmmakers have been granted the following awards by the Realness Institute’s partners: Iman Djionne (Senegal) and Athi-Patra Ruga (South Africa) both attended Locarno Filmmaker’s Academy, Silas Miami’s (Kenya) project and producer, Carol Kioko, were selected for the TorinoFilmLab Meeting Event and Beza Hailu Lemma (Ethiopia) was selected to attend the TIFF Filmmaker Lab.

Over and above their Realness awards, Iman Djionne has been selected for Atlas Workshops taking place in December at the Marrakesh International Film Festival. Both Beza Hailu Lemma and Iman Djionne have also been selected for Produire Au Sud in Nantes.

Realness Institute strives to empower African filmmaker and unearth the wealth of African stories; real stories from the continent, told with an honest and unapologetic point of view by African filmmakers.

Realness Institute is also thrilled to expand its partnership with IFFR Pro form the Creative Producer programme into the Screenwriter’s residency with a scholarship for a Realness producer to attend Rotterdam Lab. Mmabatho Kau, producer of Fanyana Hlabangane’s (South Africa) 2019 Realness Project, has been nominated to attend the Rotterdam Lab in 2020.

Call for Submissions

The call for submissions for both Realness Residency and Creative Producer Indaba will opened on 15 November 2019 and will close on the 31 January 2020. More information and application forms can be found at realness.institute./ (e) su*********@re******.institute

Realness Institute is an initiative by Urucu Media in partnership with: Berlinale Talents, CNC (Le Centre National du Cinéma et de L’image Animée), Cocoon Productions, Deuxieme Ligne Films, Durban FilmMart, The Durban International Film Festival, Durban Talents, EAVE, IEFTA, Institute Français, The French Institute of South Africa, International Film Festival Rotterdam’s IFFR Pro, Toronto International Film Festival, TIFF Filmmaker Lab, Locarno Filmmaker’s Academy, Nirox Foundation, Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie, Robert Bosch Stiftung, Sundance Institute and TorinoFilmLab.