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Open Doors, the Locarno Film Festival’s Locarno Pro-organized co-production platform and talent development program for filmmakers from regions where artistic expression is at risk, is gearing up for its 23rd edition this year with a focus on the African continent. On Thursday, six projects in development and six producers selected to participate were unveiled.

Following a three-year cycle dedicated to Latin America and the Caribbean, the program is now offering a platform for emerging voices from Africa through its Projects, Producers, and Directors programs. It provides training, mentoring, and networking opportunities, along public screenings and events during the 2025 edition of Locarno Pro, taking place in the Swiss town Aug. 7-12 during the festival.

Here is a look at the six projects in development selected to participate in the co-production track:

Congolese veteran documentary Les Bilokos (Bilokos), directed by Erickey Bahati and produced by Giresse Kassonga for Gikas Films;

documentary-animation...

Realness Institute collaborating with Brazil’s Projeto Paradiso on this year’s cohort.

African filmmaking agency Realness Institute has selected 15 film producers for the third edition of its Creative Producer Indaba (Cpi), a lab for developing entrepreneurial, leadership and creative skills among producers looking to work on the continent.

Ten of the selected producers are from Africa; five of them will attend the lab with projects, with the other five looking for next films and using the lab to network. The African participants include Tapiwa Chipufa from Zimbabwe, who is working on The Other Half Of The African Sky, billed...

Participants come from Nigeria, South Africa, Kenya, Botswana, and Zimbabwe.

African development organisation the Realness Institute has selected 12 participants for its 2023 Episodic Lab and Development Executive Traineeship (Det), in partnership with Netflix.

The two cohorts each comprise six participants from Nigeria, South Africa, Kenya, Botswana, and Zimbabwe.

The Episodic Lab participants include Amanda Gicharu and Juma Adero (Kenya), Emil Garuba (Nigeria), Gabe Gabriel, Jason Staggie and Vanishia Kisten (South Africa).

They will work to refine their skills as episodic screenwriters and develop their story ideas, and will have the opportunity to pitch their stories to Netflix content executives at the end of the proramme.