Durban FilmMart Institute Announces 28 Official Film Projects for 2023 Edition

The Durban FilmMart Institute has announced twenty eight projects as official films selected to be part of the Pitch and Finance Forum of the 2023 Durban FilmMart (DFM)-Africa’s premier coproduction and finance market, under the theme “African Constellations”.

The 14th edition of DFM takes place from 21 – 24 July 2023 as a 4-day physical event in Durban, South Africa, where The Pitch and Finance Forum will function as a crucial platform for filmmakers to connect with both local and global broadcasters, financiers, streamers, sales agents and producers, that would be garnering the essential support and collaborations required to bring projects in development to completion and reach big and small screens.

Included in the 2023 selection are eight animation projects which were announced earlier this year and three projects from the emerging filmmakers programme of DFM Access currently taking place.

Ahead of the Pitch and Finance Forum, the 2023 DFM projects will benefit from the guidance of esteemed film producers and professionals, among the mentors for the fiction projects are Kethiwe Ngcobo (South Africa), filmmaker and award-winning television producer, who previously served as the Head of Drama at SABC’s Content Hub. Also lending their expertise is Femi Odugbemi (Nigeria), a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Few of the selected documentary films for DFM 2023 in Durban, South Africa

Meanwhile, the documentary projects will benefit from the mentorship of Bridget Pickering (Namibia), a filmmaker and award-winning producer whose work, Whispering Truth to Power was honoured with the Special Jury Prize at the Hot Docs Film Festival. Also Joining her is Amel Bouzid (Belgium), an associate producer of Lágy eső by Denes Nagy, which premiered at La Quinzaine in Cannes. Themba Bhebhe, (United Kingdom), who holds the position of Head of Diversity & Inclusion at the European Film Market (Berlinale) will be participating as one of the pioneering members of the Programmers of Colour Collective (POC2), and he will be offering his mentorship to both fiction and documentary projects.

Credit: Femi Odugbemi