The eight beneficiaries were handpicked from a pool of 87 applications received from across 22 countries.
By Helena Olori
Eight African projects from seven different countries will receive development and production grants totaling $115,000 CAD from the Hot Docs-Blue Ice Group Documentary Fund.
The Grant Scheme, now in its 12th year, was set up by the Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival, and Toronto based Blue Ice Docs to finance African documentary filmmakers in film development and production, and promote African storytelling. Since 2011, the fund has invested $1.43 million in over 100 projects from 27 countries, providing annual development grants of $3,000 to $10,000 CAD and production grants of $5,000 to $40,000 CAD to approximately four to ten projects.
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Development Grants were awarded to A Butterfly Hug by Sally Abobasha (Egypt, Sudan), Born a Girl by Kady Traoré (Burkina Faso), My Dream To Fly by Asmaa Gamal (Egypt), and Wildfire by Zahra Moloo, (South Africa). While Plagued by Nicole Schafer (South Africa) received the Production Grant.
For the Post-Production category, Pülö by Nigerian Christina Ifubaraboye, You Don’t Die Two Times by Ager Oueslati (Algeria, and Zion Music directed by Senegalese filmmaker, Rama Thiaw, were selected.
Six of the grant recipients have also been invited to participate in a year-long mentorship program, and gain access to industry mentors, networking opportunities, and the labs at various African festivals and markets, including Hot Docs and Durban FilmMart/Durban International Film Festival.
Filmmakers looking for funding opportunities can apply for the next round of disbursements scheduled to commence on October 4, 2023.