Hot Docs-Blue Ice Group Documentary Fund awards top African documentary projects
Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival and Blue Ice Group recently
announced that eight African film projects have been chosen to receive a total of
$125 000 in development and production grants from the Hot Docs-Blue Ice Group
Documentary Fund in its fifth round of disbursements. Five projects will receive
development grants, and three projects will receive production grants, all selected
from 94 submissions from 25 different African countries.
“The Hot Docs-Blue Ice Group Documentary Fund has the privilege to work with
some of the strongest voices and stories across Africa,” says Hot Docs industry
programmes director Elizabeth Radshaw. “The selection process was very
competitive and we are so pleased to support the talent and diverse stories that
emerged from this round.”
Development and production grant recipients will also receive support to attend Hot
Docs 2016, where they will take part in a creative filmmakers’ lab, attend Hot Docs
screenings, conference sessions, the Hot Docs Forum and various networking
events, and participate in a year-round peer-to-peer mentorship program. They will
also receive support to attend and participate in the Durban International Film
Festival and Durban FilmMart.
The $1-million Hot Docs-Blue Ice Group Documentary Fund was created in 2011 to
help enable more African documentary filmmakers to tell their own stories, and
contribute to the African documentary community’s next generation. To date, the
Hot Docs-Blue Ice Group Documentary Fund has awarded grants to 40 projects from
15 countries, as well as travel, accommodation and accreditation support to attend
the Hot Docs Festival and Hot Docs-Blue Ice Group Filmmakers Lab, and the Durban
International Film Festival and Durban FilmMart. Just announced, the fund has been
generously replenished with an additional $1.25-million CAD by the Blue Ice Group.
Applications for the next round of disbursements will open in June 2016 and close in
August 2016. For further information on the application process, eligibility
requirements and deadlines, please visit the
href=”http://www.hotdocs.ca/funds/productionfunds”>Hot Docs website.
Hot Docs-Blue Ice Group Documentary Fund development grants:
As I Want
Director: Samaher Alqadi
Producer: Karim El Hakim
Production Company: Prophecy Films
Country: Egypt
As I Want is a first-person narrative by an Arab woman who
experiences an awakening, forcing her to confront the repressed life she is
expected to lead and the freedom she desires.
Days of Cannibalism
Director: Teboho Edkins
Producer: Don Edkins
Production Company: Day Zero Films
Country: South Africa
A story about China and Africa, Days of Cannibalism moves from a
hotel in Guangzhou to a bar in Lesotho, taking us deep into the lives of those living
in the shadow of new economic realities.
Treasures from Heaven
Director: Adnane Baraka
Producer: Sarah Lamrini
Production Company: Arkhabil Films
Country: Morocco
A Moroccan nomad, a businessman and a scientist search for valuable meteorite
debris dispersed in the desert of Western Sahara, desperate to change their own
lives.
The Other Half of the African Sky
Director: Tapiwa Chipfupa
Producers: Tapiwa Chipfupa, Ben Mahaka
Production Company: Mahaka Media, TC Pictures
Country: Zimbabwe
Estranged from her family by a dispute over her marriage, Tapiwa Chipfupa
attempts to reconcile the situation through encounters with other Zimbabwean
women in this brutally honest and vivid portrait of contemporary Zimbabwe and its
vast contradictions.
The Second Revolution
Director: Khalo Matabane
Producer: Neil Brandt
Co-Producers: Carolyn Carew, Dan Jawitz
Production Company: Fireworxmedia, Born Free Media Pty Ltd
Country: South Africa
A young militant political activist, disillusioned by injustice and inequality, rejects
Nelson Mandela’s narrative of forgiveness and reconciliation to challenge both white
and black South African elites to eradicate the widening gap between the poor and
the rich.
Hot Docs-Blue Ice Group Documentary Fund production grants:
The Letter
Director: Chris King, Maia von Lekow
Producer: Chris King, Maia von Lekow
Production Company: Circle and Square Productions
Country: Kenya
After his grandmother is accused of being a witch, a young rapper sacrifices his
reputation to embark on an investigation to unmask the taboos around witchcraft.
Radicals
Directors: Withheld
Producers: Withheld
Production Company: Withheld
Country: Withheld
Radiclas tells the harrowing story of mothers whose children have
been transformed into radicalised “foreign fighters” by the lure of ISIS.
Dream Away
Directors: Marouan Omara, Johanna Domke
Producers: Mark Lotfy, Roman Roitman
Production Company: Fig Leaf Studios, MONOKEL
Country: Egypt, Germany
Dream Away follows a generation of young Egyptians on their search
for a new identity to the surreal tourist hub Sharm El Sheikh.