Registration opens for 7th Durban FilmMart

The 7th Durban FilmMart (DFM), Africa’s premier film finance and co-production forum, opened for early bird delegate registration on April 4. That is just as the 9th Talents Durban tagged ‘Degrees of Separation: Connecting People and Story’ opened call for entries.
Talents Durban is in co-operation with Berlinale Talents and will take place as part of the 37th Durban International Film Festival (DIFF) in June, just like the DFM.
The dates for this year’s DFM, a joint project of Durban Film Office (DFO), the eThekwini Municipality’s industry development unit, and the DIFF are from June 17 to 20, earlier than in the previous years, to coincide with the DIFF (June 16 to 26), which was moved to an earlier slot for this year.
“The aim of the DFM is to increase the visibility of African cinema, kindle the creation of film on the continent, and to stimulate the development of project collaboration between African filmmakers through a dynamic networking programme,” explains Durban Film Office’s Toni Monty.
“The objective of the Mart speaks to the need for African film makers to be creating their own content and telling their own stories to their own markets. By driving the development of local content, we believe that it lays a bedrock for business and employment within the sector to thrive and look towards its own models for success.”
This year, the Mart will provide delegates with access to prominent film industry experts, financiers, content directors and broadcasters from around Africa and the world, and other industry specialists attending both the DFM and DIFF as independents to connect and develop business associations.
Talents Durban, on the other hand, opens submissions to 15 African writers and directors with fiction, documentary and hybrid projects in development. Organisers said for the first time, the re-conceptualised initiative includes high quality projects of all media formats, such as film, television series, web series and content for mobile platforms.
“In order to build on sustainable networks, the call-for-entry is also aimed at alumni of Talents Durban who participated in any previous editions of the programme and now want to come back to work on a project,” said a statement from Sharlene Versfeld of Versfeld and Associates.
Like before, the statement further explained, Talents Durban will again be hosting mentorship and hands-on training for five emerging film critics. The Talent Press programme is a co-operation with FIPRESCI and the Goethe-Institut.
Talents Durban is also excited to announce a new partnership with Realness, a South African residency programme where five African screenwriters are invited for a seven-week residency to develop a new draft of their original feature screenplay. These five screenwriters will also be participating in this year’s edition of Talents Durban and benefit from the international networks of the Durban FilmMart.
Talents Durban will take place from June 17 to 21 as part of the 37th Durban International Film Festival (June 16 to 26). The 20 selected participants from across Africa will be given a chance to forge relationships in an intensive five-day programme of one-on-one project consultation and industry networking activities with renowned mentors and professionals in the fields of production and distribution.