Six projects by filmmakers from African countries have been seleted for the Open Doors Projects at Locarno’s Open Doors 2025.
They include a Nigerian story with a twist of reunited lovers, a Congolese documentary about the scratchy existence of former soliders living in a Katindo military camp and a Bukino Faso project that blends live action and animation to tell a story of a woman contemplating the life she wants her daughter to live.
Screen profiles each of the six projects all looking for international partners to take the next step forward.
The Fortunate (Ethiopia)
Dir: Habtamu Gebrehiwot
Prod: Nahusenay Dereje (Multichoice Talent Factory)
Writer-director Habtamu Gebrehiwot’s feature debut The Fortunate is the story of a Baptist pastor from southern Ethiopia who lives between two worlds. By day he is a passionate minister working hard to save people from addiction, by night he indulges in the very sin he condemns. His secret night time world is threatened to be exposed amid a confrontation between a choir member, her boyfriend and him.
Gebrehiwot, who studied film at Addis Ababa University, now has over a decade of experience as a director, cinematographer and editor, working on commercials, short documentaries, films, music videos and TV series including the hit local drama series Gira Kegn.
Rendezvous, his first short film, screened at the 2022 European Film Festival in Addis Abba.
To produce The Fortunate, Gebrehiwot is working with filmmaker Nahusenay Dereje, who works in both film, TV and streaming, participating in both the Durban FilmMart Business Lab and Berlinale EFM Toolbox 2025. He is a member of the Multichoice Africa Talent Factory, an initiative that brings together African creatives.
Contact: Nahusenay Dereje
Les Bilokos (Congo- France)
Dir: Erickey Bahati
Prod: Giresse Kassonga (Gikas Films)
Goma-based Congolese director, screenwriter and producer Erickey Bahati’s feature documentary Les Bilokos follows the story of a former soldier and amputee who collects worn-out banknotes in exchange for candy.
He leads a group of fellow “Les Bilokos”, ex-combatants, children of soldiers, and forgotten souls, living in the overcrowded Katindo military camp.
‘Bilokos’ is a Congolese term for worn-out goods that are repurposed.
Bahati has directed short films and documentaries, including Elongo‐Elonga and Binti which won four awards at the FICKIN Film Festival in 2020. Les Bilokos has been showcased at DFM African Showcases Lab 2024, the CNC’s DEENTAL programme in Cannes 2024 for filmmakers from Africa, the Carribean and the Pacific States, and and the Berlinale’s EFM Toolbox 2025.
Producer Giresse Kassonga began in theatre before moving to TV and film. He co-produced AWA (Canal+), Coloré (TV5, RTI, NCI), and is in pre-production on Stéréoman (funded by IDFA Bertha, participating in Eurodoc 2025). “Having witnessed loved ones return from war broken, this film resonates deeply with me,” says Kassonga.
Contact: Giresse Kassonga
Kachifo (Nigeria)
Dir: Dika Ofoma
Prod: Blessing Uzzi (Bluhouse Studios)
Writer-director Dika Ofoma’s debut feature begins in a pre-colonial Igbo society. A warrior chief and a young maiden share a love that proves impossible as the chief has been betrothed to another women since birth. When they are left with no choice but to part ways, they vow not to let anything come between them if they ever walked the earth again.
The story turns to the present day where they have reincarnated as two men, one a Nigerian-Italian photographer, the other reborn as a Catholic priest-in-waiting. Bound by their ancient oath, they navigate a relationship that faces the challenge of being taboo in Nigeria, where homosexuality is widely rejected, echoing the struggle of their past lives.
Ofoma’s short films include A Japa Tale, A Quiet Monday and God’s Wife. Nigerian producer Blessing Uzzi, founder of Lagos -based Bluhouse Studios, has credits as a writer and producer that include Freedom Way, a film that explores police harassment faced by young people in Nigeria.
Contact: Blessing Uzzi
Fighters (Senegal-France)
Dir: Alassane Sy
Prod: Jules Dieng (Colors Films) (tbc)
The debut feature of Senegalese filmmaker and actor Alassane Sy details the story of a family dominated by the sport of Senegalese wrestling. Living hand to mouth on the outskirts of Dakar, Alright is on his way to a championship title, while youngest brother Moulaye is a conflicted student whose path in education has been chosen for him, rather than by him. Alright’s wife Ndatte juggles raising their two kids with her job as a teacher. A shock accident rips the family apart forcing Moulaye and Ndatte to work out what they want from their future.
Sy starred in Nafi’s Father directed by Mamadou Dia which won the best first feature prize at Locarno in 2019. He has since been building a writing and directing career and his short film credits include Marabout, which won a prize at Tunisia’s Carthage Film Festival and Fallou, which won the Grand Prix at the International Film Festival and Migration Festival of Agadir (FICMA) in Morocco in 2018.
The producer is Jules Dieng, who has over 20 years of experience in advertising and co-producing short films including Dimitri Lucas’ Wesh Rimbaud and Lise Akoka and Romane Guéret’s Ma Frère, which screened in Cannes Premiere at the Cannes film festival earlier this year.
Contact: Jules Dieng
Diary Of A Goat Woman (Ivory Coast- Burkina Faso)
Dir: Azata Soro
Prod: Nameïta Lica Toure (Les Studios Indigo)
Sociologist-turned-filmmaker Azata Soro’s feature-length documentary Diary of A Goat Woman blends live-action and animation to detail a personal and political tale set against the patriarchal society in Burkino Faso.
After years in exile, Soro returns to Burkina Faso with her daughter for her baptism. As she reconnects with loved ones and prepares for the ceremony she is forced to confront her past, that of a girl who escaped genital mutilation, a veiled teenager assaulted in a mosque, a young woman disfigured on a film set. What values does she want to pass on? Should her daughter be a sheep or a goat, in a society that punished her mother’s defiance?
As managing director of TSK Studios, producer Nameïta Toure collaborated with creatives to develop, structure, and produce projects before setting up her own production company Les Studios Indigo to further champion bold, authentic African narratives.
Contact: Nameïta Lica Toure
Black Snake (Zimbabwe)
Dir: Nashe Nyamubaya
Prod: Sue-Ellen Chitunya (263 Reels)
Zimbabwean filmmaker Naishe Nyamubaya’s second feature Black Snake is described as a magical realist comedy and details the story of a family who move into a new home in a remote village in the mountainous eastern highlands of Zimbabwe with a secret past.
Nyamubaya’s work has been supported by organisations and funds including Cannes Cinefondation’s L’Atelier, TIFF Filmmaker Lab, Red Sea Lab, and Film Independent. His short films have been nominated and won awards at events including the South African Film And Television Awards (SAFTAS), the European Film Festival, and ZIFF in Zimbabwe.
His feature Chimbo Chebere won the development jury prize at the 2021 Red Sea Souk of Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea International Film Festival. It is now in pre-production.
For Black Snake, Nyamubaya has teamed with Zimbabwean-American produce Sue-Ellen Chitunya who has previously participated in the Red Sea Lodge, WIF Emerging Producers, Locarno Industry Academy at Lincoln Center NY, and Rotterdam Lab. She has produced several shorts that have screened at festivals including Rotterdam, London, and Tribeca.
Chitunya is producing Black Snake through 263 Reels to make African stories with Pan-African collaboration at their core.
Contact: Sue-Ellen Chitunya
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