Three Kenyan filmmakers – Oprah Oyugi, Voline Ogutu and Mark Wambui – are among the 21 filmmakers who have been shortlisted for Netflix and UNESCO’s ‘African Folktales, Reimagined’ short film competition.
The candidates drawn across 13 countries in Africa were selected following a rigorous evaluation process by a wide-range of industry professionals from across the continent who assessed over 2080 applications in multiple languages.
The shortlisted filmmakers include:
- Nosa Igbinedion (Nigeria)
- Ebot Tanyi(Cameroon)
- Loukman Ali (Uganda)
- Tongryang Pantu (Nigeria)
- Walt Mzengi (Tanzania)
- Venance Soro(Côte d’Ivoire)
- Mark Wambui(Kenya)
- Volana Razafimanantsoa (Madagascar)
- Mohamed Echkouna(Mauritania)
- Nader Fakhry (Côte d’Ivoire)
- Anne Catherine Tchokonté (Cameroon)
- Mphonyana Mokokwe (Botswana)
- Anita Abada (Nigeria)
- Samuel Kanyama (Zambia)
- Machérie Ekwa-Bahango(Democratic Republic of Congo)
- Oprah Oyugi (Kenya)
- Ndiyathemba Modibedi (South Africa)
- Gcobisa Yako (South Africa)
- Akorede Azeez (Nigeria)
- Katya Aragão (São Tomé and Príncipe)
- Voline Ogutu(Kenya)
The filmmakers will go on to the next phase of the competition where they will be required to pitch their stories to a judging panel comprising of the mentors; Nigeria’s Femi Odugbemi, South Africa’s Bongiwe Selane, Leila Afua Djansi from Ghana, David Tosh Gitonga from Kenya, and Jean Luc Herbulot from Congo as well as representatives from Netflix and UNESCO who will act as guides in the process.
The panel will select the final six filmmakers who will receive a production grant of US$75,000 (through a local production company) to develop, shoot and post-produce their films under the guidance of Netflix and industry mentors to ensure everyone involved in the production is fairly compensated. Each of the 6 winners will also receive $25,000.
