Open Doors, the Locarno Film Festival’s co-production platform and talent development programme, has unveiled the projects and producers taking
Open Doors, the Locarno Film Festival’s co-production platform and talent development programme, has unveiled the projects and producers taking part in its 23rd edition, which this year is focused on the African continent.
The Open Doors programme, which runs during the festival’s industry strand Locarno Pro from August 7-12, is dedicated to emerging voices from Africa for its upcoming four editions after a three-year cycle focused on Latin America and the Caribbean.
Six projects in development have been selected for co-production platform Open Doors Projects. They are:
- Congolese army veteran documentary Bilokos (Les Bilokos) directed by Erickey Bahati and produced by Giresse Kassonga for Gikas Films
- Documentary-animation hybrid Diary of a Goat Woman (Journal Intime d’une Femme-Chèvre), a co-production between Ivory Coast and Burkina Faso, represented by director Azata Soro and producer Nameita Lica Toure of Les Studios Indigo
- Ethiopian shadowy comedy The Fortunate by director Habtamu Gebrehiwot and producer Nahusenay Dereje of MTF Multimedia
- Nigerian reincarnation romance Till The Morning Comes (Kachifo) by director Dika Ofoma and Blessing Uzz, producer at Bluhouse Studios.
- Fighters (Lutteurs), a Senegalese wrestling family drama by director Alassane Sy and producer Jules Dieng of Thiely Films
- Zimbabwean supernatural mystery Black Snake by director Naishe Nyamubaya and producer Sue-Ellen Chitunya of 263 Reels Productions
Meanwhile, the Open Doors Producers career-building programme, has selected six participants: Kamy Lara (Angola), Moustapha Sawadogo (Burkina Faso), Leul Shoaferaw (Ethiopia), June Wairegi (Kenya), Yannick Mizero Kabano (Rwanda), and Kudakwashe Miss Maradzika (Zimbabwe).
During Locarno, a jury will grant financial and in-kind awards to the selected winning projects.
The directors taking part in the programme’s Open Doors Screenings strand will be announced with the official selection of the Locarno Film Festival on July 8.
Film professionals from 42 countries in Africa were eligible to apply to the Open Doors programme, which is aimed at filmmakers from equity seeking communities and regions where artistic expression is at risk.
Yanis Gaye, the recent head of studies at Open Doors said: “The inception of the new cycle of Open Doors is an exciting marker of the role African film industries will play within the global independent film landscape in years to come. The platform designed by our passionate artistic team is a space where talents will be empowered to continue to shape the instruments, strategies, and community these filmmakers need to see their projects and careers blossom.”
Zsuzsi Bánkuti, head of Open Doors, added: “We are excited to welcome a strong slate of predominantly first and second-time filmmakers whose inventive approaches and formal experimentation signal a bold evolution in global cinematic storytelling. The range of perspectives represented is striking — each project brings a distinct voice that challenges narrative conventions.”
COMMENTS