EXCLUSIVE: Mo Harawe, the Austria-Somalia filmmaker behind Cannes Un Certain Regard 2024 premiere The Village Next To Paradise, is among the 15 participants in African filmmaking agency Realness Institute’s latest Creative Producer Indaba development programme.
Now on its fifth iteration, participants also include Mozambique’s Ique Langa, who is also taking part in this year’s Marrakech Atlas Workshops with his feature Chapa 100 and was part of the Final Cut Venice 2024 selection with The Prophet, which has Doha Film Institute post-production funding.
Linda Qibaa is a Moroccan-French filmmaker who took part in 2023’s Atlas Workshops with her feature Road Trip, which has development funding from the Doha Film Institute.
Scroll down for the full list of participants
The programme is led by Realness Institute interim managing director Mehret Mandefro and producer Diana Elbaum, and kicked off last week with an online session. An in-person workshop will take place in February next year in Johannesburg, before moving to Saint-Paul, Réunion, during the International Indian Ocean Film Festival (FIFOI) in April 2026 for more sessions.
Creative Producer Indaba is created and designed by Cape Town-based Realness Institute in partnership with EAVE, the Indian Ocean International Film Festival (FIFOI) and Maison du Cinéma et des Jeux Vidéo, with the financial support of Region Réunion.
The programme is also supported by the Brazilian Foundation Projeto Paradiso, Canada Media Fund, Telefilm Canada, the Swiss Foundation for professional training in cinema and audiovisual media (FOCAL), the Austrian Film Institute, the French National Centre of Cinema (CNC), and Institut français Creation Africa.
Creative Producer Indaba 2025-26 participants
African/Indian Ocean producers with a project:
Ique Langa (Mozambique) – Chapa 100 – prod co. Better Audiovisual
Lova Nantenaina (Madagascar/Réunion) – Espoir – prod cos. Endemika Films and Papang Films
Wame Merafhe (Botswana) – Borrowed Skin – prod co. Trend Alert Holdings
Yasmin Hassan (Kenya) – Jua Kali – Wheelbarrow Films
Shveta Naidoo (South Africa) – The Moon Can’t Run – prod co. Kulfi Films
African/Indian Ocean Producers interested in professional development:
Xolani Nhlapho (South Africa), Eccentric Circus Productions
David Franciscus (South Africa), Protagonist Studios
Mahelet Gezachew (Ethiopia/USA)
Iman Djionne (Senegal), Guddi Productions
Linda Qibaa (Morocco/France), Ruyba Films
International producers collaborating with African/Indian Ocean producers:
Mo Harawe (Austria/Somalia), Donkey Films
Stefan Eichenberger (Switzerland), Contrast Film
Soko Negash (Canada), Scarborough Pictures
Aswathi Naduthodi (India), VU Talkies
Talita Arruda (Brazil), Fistaile
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