Africadoc launches South African session

Eight South African documentary filmmakers are taking part in the documentary scriptwriting workshop and residency under the direction of French documentary filmmaking lecturer and documentary and fiction filmmaker, Alain-Paul Mallard. By the end of the residency, four projects will be selected and presented to African, European and Canadian producers at the Tënk Encounters in June 2010 in Saint-Louis (Senegal).

The South African participants, namely Tapiwa Chipfufa, Nocks Chatiza, Karabo Lediga, Brigid Olën, Yazeed Kamaldien, Maanda Ntsandeni, Lesedi Moche and Teboho Pietersen, have been selected by a committee based on their project as well as their potential in terms of conveying a strong sense of direction and point of view. The idea is to develop their talent and vision through writing, and to position them as real "authors" who can deliver a unique film where they, as filmmakers, will be held accountable both for form and content.

The project is supported by the French Embassy in South Africa, the French Institute of South Africa, the Gauteng Film Commission, the Documentary Filmmakers Association, the Cinema School AFDA, the Department of Arts and Culture and the Encounters South African International Documentary Festival.

Africadoc aims to develop, together with all African countries, a training network to meet the need of a new generation of documentary filmmakers, and to set up a network of professionals working in the documentary industry.