This overwhelming response confirms Africa's creative potential in multimedia content and reinforces Digital Lab Africa as a springboard for African talent in this field. The expected outcome of DLA is market ready content/productions showcasing African creativity at its best.
In terms of numbers, South Africa and Nigeria are leading the pack with 159 and 86 entries respectively; followed by Ivory Coast (49) and Cameroon (48). In terms of categories, web creation and transmedia registered the highest number of entries (225), ahead of digital music (150), video games (82) and virtual reality (59).
The selected projects for each of the categories (three per category), will be announced on 30 September 2016. From 2 to 4 November, the finalists will take part in a pitch competition at DISCOP AFRICA Johannesburg, partner of the DLA.
The selected projects will get a chance to win a 3,000 Euro cash prize and a Digital Lab Africa incubation ticket, including mentorship and project development support by leading French multimedia companies on board. Additionally, the incubation programme will comprise a one month residency in France within digital hubs and participation in benchmark multimedia events.
“We would like to thank all the applicants for submitting their projects. The incredible number and variety of entries we received is a true reflection of Africa's creativity and potential in multimedia production and digital content,” said Frédéric Chambon, DLA Director and regional head of film and media at the French Embassy in South Africa.
The Digital Lab Africa is open to any professional or individual from Sub-Saharan Africa (artists, producers, startups, developers, students) who have an innovative project in four categories of multimedia production: web creation/transmedia; virtual reality; video games; and digital music.
The objective of Digital Lab Africa is to provide a springboard for African talent in multimedia creation and to make their project happen with the support of French companies which lead in this industry (studios, producers, broadcasters, distributors), such as ARTE (Transmedia), Lagardère studios (web creation), Okio-Studio (virtual reality), CCCPÂ (video games), and 1D Touch/Believe Digital (digital music).
The Digital Lab Africa is initiated by the French Embassy and the French Institute in South Africa as part of their support to the creative industries in the region, in partnership with DISCOP AFRICA and TRACE.
