Joyah to attend international film market
R
enowned filmmaker Charles Shemu Joyah will be one of the participants during this year’s Durban Film Mart in Durban, South Africa courtesy of the French Embassy in South Africa.
Joyah’s selection follows his earlier engagement with the adviser for cooperation and cultural action at the French Embassy in South Africa Ludovic Cocogne who visited Malawi in April this year.
Joyah said during his meeting with Cocogne, he brought to his attention the challenges that Malawian filmmakers face when sourcing funds to finance their projects. After sending film proposals, Joyah was then listed to attend the film mart which is expected to take place from July 21 to 24.
In an interview yesterday, Joyah said the opportunity is important to him because it will give him the chance to meet executives from international content consumers such as Netflix and Amazon.
“I will have a chance to pitch some of my pending film projects such as the John Chilembwe film and other two films. I have also been working on a series with two colleagues Mpilo Mizere and Gilbert Moyo, which I will try to pitch as well,” he said.
Joyah said he will take advantage of the mart to establish links and connections with filmmakers and producers from Africa and abroad who will be present.
Apart from the film market, Joyah will also attend film masterclasses which will be offered by several film producers. He said the masterclasses will help him understand the best methods to seek funding and producing films in the digital age.
The annual Durban Film Mart (DFM) is a pan-African finance and co-production market designed to create partnerships and further the development and production of African cinema. The DFM was named in Unesco’s 2021 Film Trends in Africa Report as “the continent’s best film market”.
In part, the organisers’ statement reads: “The Mart provides selected African filmmakers with projects in development an opportunity to pitch film projects to leading financiers and content buyers. It also offers a full programme of industry-film related masterclasses, workshops, and panel discussions as well as networking opportunities for African and international filmmakers to form alliances for the future.”
Some of the international film producing companies, scheduled to attend this year’s Film Matt are Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Showmax, Trace Studios, TikTok and others.
