Call for Applications: Immersive residency for African female filmmakers
“It is important for the film sector to make the voice of Africa heard, to support the emergence of diverse cultural expressions, put forth new ideas and emotions, and make sure that women as creators contribute to a necessary global dialogue for peace, culture and development.”
UNESCO is offering a 2-week filmmaking residency (29 March to 12 April 2020) for 10 young African women filmmakers from selected countries in Africa. This film and artist-in-residence workshop will allow for the transnational exchange and sharing of artistic experiences between young African and Japanese filmmakers in a productive creative environment. It will provide artistic guidance and put in place a genuine platform for experimental creation and artistic renewal, and foster collaborations between Africa and Japanese artists, provide international exposure to the work of young women artists, and open new opportunities for artistic creation, production and dissemination.
Within the duration of workshop, the participants will complete their short films from shooting to editing. They will collaborate and interact with other participants, discuss technical and artistic issues, sharing with the group the different stages of the editing.
Participants will also be invited to present their in-residency work during the Nara Internatoinal Film Festival (18-22 September 2020), in order to increase networking opportunities, establish solid international ties, and reach out to new audiences.
Ms Naomi Kawase, internationally acclaimed film director and founder of the Nara International Film Festival, will ensure the overall artistic direction of the residency with the support from her team from the Nara film festival. Ms Fatou Kande Senghor, film director and producer from Senegal, will also be coaching and mentoring the participants.
WHO CAN APPLY?
Applicants are emerging women filmmakers, with some film or audio-visual experience, a good command of English and aged 21-35 from the following countries:
Burkina Faso
Kenya
Nigeria
Senegal
South Africa
Two applicants will be selected in each country by a joint national/UNESCO committee.
Read more here
https://en.unesco.org/creativity/news/call-applications-immersive-residency-african-female
FILMMAKERS WITHOUT BORDERS Grant Application Now Open
FILMMAKERS WITHOUT BORDERS (FWB) is a nonprofit organization that is dedicated to empowering the next generation of digital storytellers. FWB filmmaking grants provide funding and support for independent filmmakers to share their stories. Funds are available for narrative, documentary, experimental, and new media projects in various stages of production. FWB encourages both novice and experienced filmmakers from around the world to apply for grant funding. For more details and an overview of the required supporting materials, click here. Also, please note that the maximum PDF size is 1MB per upload. Click here to compress any larger files before attempting to submit.
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Ada The Country, a woman’s survival story Berths at MUSON,
Doyenne Circle Teams Up With Lala Akindoju, Titilope Sonuga With Kate Henshew As Lead
Ada The Country, a musical from the stable of Doyenne Circle, will hit the stage of MUSON Centre, on January 2, 2020. Produced and directed by the multi-award winning producer cum actor, Kemi Lala Akindoju, Ada The Country is the survival story of a young woman who lost everything there could be in a single event of fire outbreak but her will to overcome.
According to Akindoju, Ada the Country is a story of women coming together for their own, where the survival of an unfortunate woman draws the sympathy and support of other women, who rally round her through the thick and thin in her life journey.
“Ada the Country is more than just a survival story of a woman but that of a situation where the institutions failed, but the womenfolk rose up, took ownership and did the work to build the world they desired. It is a story that celebrates the magic women can make when they come together, and the audience will identify with it as it is an everyday story told in an exciting way by a renowned playwright, Titilope Sonuga and performed by an experienced cast of actors.”
Sonuga is an award-winning writer, poet and performer whose work has graced stages and pages across the globe. She is a leading voice in local and international artistic communities, who has travelled extensively as a poet and facilitated hundreds of creative writing workshops around the world.
Akindoju, who has featured in over 70 theatre productions and films around the world including, MNET Africa’s Tinsel, Tunde Kelani’s Dazzling Mirage, Kunle Afolayan’s The CEO, among many others, and formed part of the team that performed at the Theatre Royale Stratford East at the Cultural Olympiad during the London Olympics in 2012.
“The versatile actor, Kate Henshaw, will be playing the lead role of Ada, who was dragged out of an inferno against her will, as she wasn’t ready to escape the snares of the fire until she rescues her only daughter, a nine-month old baby. Losing all she had – her only child, her home and her means of livelihood, Ada began life anew, refusing to be daunted by that fire incident, or other life issues that were to come her way. Henshaw will be expected to prove her mettle as she drags the audience along her travails of life.
Read more here
