Women Are The Missing Link In Canada-South Africa Co-Productions

News Americas, Durban, South Africa, Thurs. Mar. 28, 2019: CaribbeanTales Media, Group (CTMG) and the Durban FilmMart, (DFM) are pleased to announce the renewal of their partnership to develop films and television content  by African women and women of colour from the global Diaspora. The 3rd CIneFAM-South Africa Co-Production Accelerator will be launched during the 10th Durban FilmMart (DFM) which takes place from 19 to 22 July 2019.

The 2019 CIneFAM Program  will take the form of a series of workshops, in Canada and South Africa, that aims to kickstart original co-productions led by experienced and seasoned female producers, writers and directors from both countries.

“We are excited to expand our program and our partnership with DIFF, with a focus on building a slate of compelling co-productions aimed at the global market. Our ultimate goal is to increase the pool of world-class female-driven content so as to build the audio visual capacity of both our countries.” said Frances-Anne Solomon, Founder and Executive Director of CineFAM, and CEO of the CaribbeanTales Media Group.

The program is  co-led by Solomon and experienced South African Producer Zikethiwe Ngcobo of  Johannesburg-based Fuzebox Entertainment who said: “I am delighted to join this successful initiative. There is undeniably a need for women to start working across borders with each other, and at the  helm of strong original international co-productions.”

Women of colour are woefully underrepresented and underpaid in the global industry, including in South Africa and in Canada, where statistics do not even exist. The CineFAM Accelerator is specifically geared to building capacity and creative leadership among women creatives and producers.

In 2017, CineFAM  and the Durban FilmMart joined forces  for the first time to host the inaugural  CineFAM – South Africa  Accelerator. The winning  producer — Mary Ann Mandishona  — attended the renowned CaribbeanTales Incubator program in Canada, where she won 3rd Prize for Best Pitch. Also in 2017, CIneFAM-SA  in association with South African Women in Film & Television (SWIFT) jointly held  a Short Film Challenge. The winning short  — The Walk — was screened at the 1st CineFAM Film Festival in Canada in September 2017.

In 2018, the second iteration of this hugely successful program focused on introducing South African producers to Canadian broadcasters in order to explore projects for co-production. From this intake, the original television series project, “Queen of the Rain” has received funding under the Canada-South Africa Co-Development Incentive, a collaboration between the Canada Media Fund (CMF ) and the National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF), with Canadian broadcaster AfroGlobal Television attached.

Toni Monty, Head of the Durban FilmMart said, “We have had an extremely productive partnership with CaribbeanTales through the CineFAM Program, and are delighted to renew our relationship with Ms Solomon and to welcome Ms Ngcobo on board who brings to the table her experience and proven talent as a successful producer in South Africa. The programme comprises carefully structured workshops to actively reimagine and strategize how to facilitate, encourage and promote co-productions between South Africa and Canada and to ensure that they are women led”

The overall goal of the 2019 program will be to identify and develop suitable scripts, within the terms of the South Africa-Canada co-production treaty. Selected  projects will participate in a  two-day intensive workshop during DFM where they will be supported by senior executives and mentors. In September, the best projects will attend and pitch their projects at the 2019 CineFAM/ CaribbeanTales Incubator (CTI),  held annually in Toronto, Canada, in partnership with the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF).  It is intended that from these, a number will be go forward for development and production in 2020 / 2021.

About CineFAM Women of Colour Creators Worldwide

CineFAM is a Haitian Creole word meaning “films by women”. Registered as a not-for-profit company in Canada, and founded by filmmaker and producer Frances-Anne Solomon, the company aims to support bold, original film stories by women of colour creators worldwide. Since 2016, their program includes: an annual 1-day film festival; a short film challenge for emerging filmmakers;  and a partnership with the Durban Filmmart to develop South Africa/Canada co-productions led by African women. In 2019, CineFAM launched its first Feature Film Incubator program for Canadian women of colour directors.

ABOUT THE DURBAN FILMMART

The Durban FilmMart (DFM) is a co-production and finance market and is a joint programme of the Durban Film Office (DFO) and the Durban International Film Festival (DIFF). DFM provides filmmakers from across Africa with a valuable opportunity to pitch projects to financiers, distributors, sales agents and potential co-producers, and to participate in meetings, project presentations and a series of master classes and workshops on the latest industry trends. www.durbanfilmmart.com

About Fuzebox Entertainment

Fuzebox is a black female-owned and managed media Company that develops and produces content. The women in Fuzebox have a focus on creative excellence and are recognised for their in-depth research, and drive for resonant and relevant stories.  CEO Kethiwe Ngcobo, a former SABC Head Of Drama, has since she left that post,  gone from strength to strength and four critically acclaimed series with mass audiences have been produced by the company: Thola (SABC2,  2 series ), Mfolozi Street (SABC1, 2 series) Mokapelo (SABC1, 3 series) and It’s Complicated (Mzansi DSTV, 2 series). Produced feature films together with sister company Fuze Films: Mrs Right Guy (2016) and Love Lives Here (2019).

ABOUT CARIBBEANTALES MEDIA GROUP

CaribbeanTales is a group of companies that produces, markets, and sells Caribbean-themed film and television content for global audiences. It includes CaribbeanTales Inc. a registered Charity based in Toronto, Canada; the Caribbean-Tales International Film Festival (CTFF) that produces events around the world; the renowned CaribbeanTales Incubator Program, a development and production hub for original Caribbean content; CaribbeanTales Worldwide Distribution (CTWD), the largest full-service distribution entity dedicated to the monetisation of Caribbean content; CaribbeanTalesFlix, our production arm, and CaribbeanTales-TV, a video on demand platform.