Open Doors, Locarno Pro’s co-production and talent development initiative for artists from underrepresented communities around the world, is heading into a new chapter. Following Latin America and the Caribbean (2022 – 2024), Open Doors will focus on the African continent for the upcoming four years. Following the guidelines of Open Doors’ main partner, the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA), film professionals from 42 countries* are eligible to apply.
Submissions for the 2025 edition of Open Doors’ three main programs – Open Doors Projects (former Open Doors Projects Hub), Open Doors Producers (former Open Doors Producers Lab), and Open Doors Directors (former Open Doors Directors Club) – are open from 28 November 2024 until 16 January 2025.
Open Doors’ renewed Artistic Teams will co-develop and co-curate the program’s content and strategy for the next four years, through a strategic partnership with YETU (Un)Limited – a pan-African, collective-based film studio dedicated to strengthening African cinemas’ ecosystem locally and internationally. Producer and YETU co-founder Yanis Gaye (Senegal) has been appointed Head of Studies.
Alongside him, key joining members are Ibee Ndaw (Gambia/ Senegal), a programmer and festival manager, as Programmer, and producer and former Locarno Film Festival consultant Tiny Mungwe (South Africa) and industry expert Mitchell Harper (South Africa) serving as Artistic Consultants.
Mungwe and Harper bring 15-year experience in pan-African community cinema. Jointly, they run the production company CTRL ALT Shift and are involved in talent development programs through their Durban-based residency space, Ehozini Retreat. Ndaw has been active in the pan-African industry as sales agent, festival manager, and programmer, and is currently the coordinator of the Yennenga Center in Dakar.
Marjorie Bendeck (Honduras/Germany, Head of Open Doors Projects), Delphine Jeanneret (Switzerland, Head of Open Doors Directors), and Julia Duarte (Brazil/Portugal, Artistic Consultant) will remain members of the Artistic Team.
Angolan filmmaker and programmer Fradique Bastos (Air Conditioner, 2020), Nigerian American producer and YETU co-founder Melissa Adeyemo (Eyimofe, 2020), and Burkinabé director, screenwriter, and producer Apolline Traoré (Sira, 2023) will join Julia Duarte as part of the Selection Committee. A fifth and final member of the team will be confirmed by the end of 2024.
Yanis Gaye, Head of Studies: “There are two movements driving us forward. First, we aim to consolidate African cinemas from a mangrove of both local and international platforms – Open Doors creates the opportunity to nurture new dynamics between African markets and Europe. This intersects with our second driving force: our dedication to weave a horizontal collaborative process that will shape a tailored, adaptive and elevated program for African cinematic voices.”
Zsuzsi Bánkuti, Head of Open Doors: “With Open Doors, our primary goal has always been to create a safe and creative space for fostering meaningful connections among film professionals within our focus region, while facilitating links with the global film industry. This new chapter is particularly exciting as we work closely with a team deeply rooted in the cinema landscape of the region. With their extensive experience, strong local networks, and forward-thinking approach, they bring invaluable expertise to the program. We look forward to welcoming new talented filmmakers into our worldwide network and further strengthening professional ties within the new focus region, building on the collaborative efforts of past editions.”
Eligible directors and producers who are interested to take part in Open Doors are invited to join a webinar on 12 December 2024, 4:30 pm CET, during which Open Doors will provide a short presentation as well as host several breakout rooms with the possibility to meet the team and ask questions. Registration for the webinar can be done here.
* The eligible countries are: Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cabo Verde, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Congo, Côte d’Ivoire, DR Congo, Djibouti, Eritrea, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, São Tomé and Príncipe, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe.
About Open Doors
The Open Doors initiative was launched by the Locarno Film Festival in 2003, in subsequent collaboration with the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA). For more than 20 years, Open Doors’ mission has been to support artists from underrepresented communities around the world, and from countries in which cinema and art as a form of expression are at risk. Its aim is to help foster sustainable industry practices and film environments in the regions in question.
Offering a multi-faceted space for nurturing film talents, it has developed an array of programs for training, learning and networking for film professionals, as well as public screenings and events – during the Locarno Film Festival and online.
cREDIT: locarnofestival
