THE 34th Durban International Film Festival (DIFF), holding in Durban, South Africa, has released a list of 40 young filmmakers from 15 countries in Africa who will be participating at the Talent Campus segment of the film event. The list has two Nigerians: Aderinsola Ajao and Adeyinka Edward Daniyan, a Director of Photography of Kunle Afolayan’s hit movie, Figurine.
These African filmmakers and film experts are expected to come together in Durban and be inspired and enlightened in the medium and industry of cinema. The programme provides the selected participants with a unique opportunity to meet with international industry professionals, experts and mentors in various aspects of the filmmaking business through participation in a 5-day programme of masterclasses, workshops and industry networking events.
This year’s candidates, chosen from over 450 submissions, have been chosen from Algeria, Cameroon, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa, Tunisia, and Uganda.
DIFF is being hosted by the Centre for Creative Arts, University of KwaZulu-Natal, with principal funding by the National Lottery Development Trust Fund. The event takes place from July 19 to 23, 2013.
Running in parallel to the general Festival programme, this year’s Talent Campus Durban will offer three hands-on training programmes: Doc Station which will focus on documentary-making, Talent Press which is dedicated to film criticism and Script Station which will foster story development.
For the third consecutive year, Doc Station will offer three selected Talents the opportunity to refine and polish documentary projects for pitching at the 4th Durban FilmMart’s DOC Circle. Talent Press will mentor four African journalists in the art of film criticism with access to all the screenings of the 34th Durban International Film Festival. This initiative, promoted in collaboration with FIPRESCI (International Federation of Film Critics) and the Goethe Institute of South Africa, will welcome film writing experts Didi Cheeka (Nigeria), Espera Donouvossi (Benin and South Africa), Leon Van Nierop (South Africa) and Katarina Hederen (Ethiopia and South Africa) as programme mentors.
Talent Campus Durban is presented in partnership with the Berlinale Talent Campus, with support from the German Embassy of South Africa, the Goethe-Institut of South Africa, and the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Economic Development and Tourism.
