Durban FilmMart announces partners and new awards

The FilmMart sees about 500 film-makers from around the globe, with a significant representation from Africa, attend the festival for four days of industry development forums and networking sessions. An integral part of the DFM is the finance and co-production forum, which this year has 10 features and nine documentary films selected for intense mentoring and pitch sessions to financiers and distributors, and other industry representatives.

This year, the Sundance Institute Documentary Film Program will award a documentary film project that demonstrates potential for strong storytelling craft, artistic use of visual language, originality, feasibility, and relevance with a cash award of $7,000 for further development.

"In light of the tremendous talent for documentary filmmaking in Africa and the significant work of the DFM to celebrate those artists, the award is designed to contribute to and support the work of an African non-fiction filmmaker," explains Rahdi Taylor, Film Fund Director of the Sundance Institute Documentary Film Program.

Partners and awards

• Afridocs, the broadcast stream that sees African and other international documentaries screened across 49 countries of sub-Saharan Africa on a weekly basis, will offer a €3,000 grant for one outstanding documentary project.

• The CineMart Award, sponsored by the co-production market of the International Film Festival Rotterdam, provides a fiction project with an opportunity to attend the Rotterdam Lab, a five-day training and networking event bringing together producers from all over the world.

• The International Documentary Film Festival of Amsterdam (IDFA) awards the most promising documentary project at the DFM with an opportunity to attend the IDFA Forum, the largest and most influential meeting place for documentary filmmakers, producers, commissioning editors, funds, private financiers and other documentary stakeholders in Europe, from 23 - 25 November.

• The New Cinema Network awards will give an official project an opportunity to attend the 10th edition NCN in Rome, where the producer/director will be able to present the project to film companies at an international level.

• Produire au Sud of Festival des 3 Continents (Nantes), will give one fiction project an opportunity to attend its developmental workshop program, PAS, where they will be given tools, expertise, and opportunities to develop European networks.

• The Restless Pitch award, is a one-year representation deal for the project by Restless Talent Management, who provide development services such as image-building and positioning, project packaging, PR, and advises its clients on film sales, distribution and promotion.

• Durban's Videovision Entertainment, will once again award the "Best South African Film Project" a prize valued at R75,000, which guarantees its release once it is completed. The prize includes marketing and distribution support from Videovision Entertainment.

For more information about the DFM go to www.durbanfilmmart.com.