Co-production lab focuses on Francophone Sub-Saharan Africa in 2012.

12 projects from Francophone Sub-Saharan Africa have been selected for Open Doors, the Locarno film festival’s co-production lab, which runs August 4-7 as part of the 65th edition of the festival.

The projects were selected from 213 applications from 17 different countries. They are:

Away (Ailleurs) by Leslie Tô (Burkina Faso)
Black Sunshine by Akosua Adoma Owusu (Senegal/Ghana)
From Street To School (De La Rue à L’école) by Pape Tall (Senegal)
Faso Fani, The End Of The Dream (Faso Fani, La Fin Du Rêve) by Michel K. Zongo (Burkina Faso)
Pieces Of Lives (Fragments De Vies) by Laza (Madagascar)
We’ve Got To Leave Bamako (Il Faut Quitter Bamako) by Aïssa Maïga (Mali)
Fire Next Time (La Prochaine Fois, Le Feu) by Mati Diop (Senegal)
The President (Le Président) by Jean-Pierre Bekolo (Cameroon)
Shadows Of The Sugarcane (Lombraz Kan) by David Constantin (Mauritius)
The Eye (Nyè) by Daouda Coulibaly (Mali)
Pakitalaki, Portrait Of A Family (Pakitalaki, Portrait d’Une Famille) by Adama Sallé (Burkina Faso)
Secret Faces (Toutes Voiles Dehors) by Jean-Marie Teno (Cameroon).

Martina Malacrida, who runs the Open Doors section, commented that she was “especially happy with the quality and variety of the projects submitted,” and “delighted with the number of guests who already confirmed their attendance at Open Doors”.

Film-makers set to attend include Idrissa Ouédraogo from Burkino Faso, who was in Locarno with Yaaba in 1989 and Gaston Kaboré, winner of the César for best Francophone film in 1983 for Wend Kuuni. Two other directors, Mali’s Cheick Oumar Sissoko (Guimba) and the Mauritania’s Abderrahmane Sissako (Bamako) will participate in Open Doors.

The directors and producers of the projects will be put in contact with possible partners who could help find support to complete their projects. At the close of a three-day training seminar, an award worth €40,000, funded by the Open Doors initiative in collaboration with the town of Bellinzona, will go to one of the projects. A second award of €7,000 will be offered by the CNC and ARTE will award the International Relations ARTE Prize, worth €6,000.

Alex Moussa Sawadogo, African cinema expert and director of the Afrikamera festival in Berlin, works with the festival on the Open Doors 2012 programme.

The Locarno film festival runs August 1-11.