Universal Channel Africa to air winning short films

17 May 2011

JOHANNESBURG: Universal Networks International announced yesterday, 16 May 2011, its support for Focus Features' Africa First initiative that aims to bring African filmmakers to industry attention. Universal Channel in Africa will be promoting the initiative through an on-air campaign and on its website.

The Africa First short film program, sponsored by Focus, annually awards five emerging African filmmakers US$10,000 each towards pre-production, production, or post-production of their short film. This year, the submissions period will run through to Monday, 22 August 2011.

Universal Channel Africa will air a selection of the short films completed through the program including Un transport en commun (Saint Louis Blues), directed by Dyana Gaye (from Senegal), which follows a journey from Dakar with seven taxi passengers telling of destinies and lives through song.

Bringing filmmakers together

The initiative, with funds earmarked exclusively for emerging filmmakers of African nationality and residence, is, for the fourth consecutive year, offering eligible and participating filmmakers the chance to be awarded US$10,000 in financing for pre-production, production, and/or post-production on their narrative short film made in continental Africa and tapping into the resources of the film industry there.

The program also brings the filmmakers together with each other and with a renowned group of advisors, major figures in the African film world, for support and mentorship.

The five filmmakers selected this year will be notified in late September 2011 and will retain the copyrights and the distribution rights to their completed shorts, with the exception of North American rights; Focus retains those, as well as the right of first negotiation to productions derived from the shorts, such as a feature-length expansion.

For more information on Africa First, go to www.focusfeatures.com/africafirst.