The African Export Import Bank (Afreximbank), through its Creative Africa Nexus (CANEX) programme, in partnership with The African International Film Festival (AFRIFF) – one of Africa’s largest and most vibrant film festivals, is excited to announce its ‘Script to Screen’ intervention. This project is a year-long incubator, capacity development and content creation acceleration programme, focused on African filmmakers/producers and writers who are interested in improving their ability to create and deliver quality screen content.
In the course of the programme, participants will be immersed in a ‘Writers Lab’ anchored by accomplished writers who have attained global recognition in the film industry. The programme will include development residencies, workshops on financial management, business skills, entertainment law and IP and distribution strategies. Participants will also get an opportunity to pitch their projects to international studios and streamers during the programme.
This film industry development initiative reflects one of CANEX’s core pillars aimed at building upstream capacity within the audiovisual value chain, with a view to enhancing the exportability of African film content. The Cultural and Creative Industries (CCIs) have become a powerful transformative force in the world today, being among the most rapidly growing sectors in the global economy, in terms of income generation, job creation and export earnings. In this regard, Afreximbank acknowledges the prominent role that some CCI sectors, including the film industry, can play in economic transformation and youth engagement on the continent.
Against this backdrop, the Script to Screen Film Accelerator Programme aims to achieve these specific objectives:
Train 30 youth in the development of exportable film content
Facilitate the development of indigenous intellectual property
Provide a platform for the associated intellectual property (IP) to be showcased to streamers
(e.g Amazon, Netflix etc)
Enhance the competitiveness of African filmmakers by providing exposure to cutting edge technology and other tools that will enable them grow production quality
Foster the development of Africa’s film development through networking and partnerships
Provide up and coming African filmmakers with increased visibility and recognition
Provide participants with mentoring and related support services.
AFRIFF Founder and Festival Director, Chioma Ude, in expressing her gratitude to partners stated, “Over the years, CANEX has been a critical development partner and collaborator of AFRIFF and continues to be a major pilar of support. The possibilities that this collaboration enables, continue to build the much-needed structure and capacity in the African creative industry, as well as amplify the collective values shared by AFRIFF and CANEX in promoting greater creative business opportunities on the continent.”
Afreximbank through CANEX, recognizes positive developments and notable strides achieved by AFRIFF in its contributions to the growth of the film industry in Africa, as a launch pad for creative talents to connect to opportunities and realize the endless possibilities as their contemporaries around the world.