Hot Docs and Blue Ice award top African documentary projects

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Hot Docs and Blue Ice award top African documentary projects --

Fri, 15 Jan 2016 15:08

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Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival and Blue Ice Group recently announced that eight African film projects have been chosen to receive a total of $125 000 in development and production grants from the Hot Docs-Blue Ice Group Documentary Fund in its fifth round of disbursements. Five projects will receive development grants, and three projects will receive production grants, all selected from 94 submissions from 25 different African countries.

The Hot Docs-Blue Ice Group Documentary Fund has the privilege to work with some of the strongest voices and stories across Africa, says Hot Docs industry programme director Elizabeth Radshaw. The selection process was very competitive and we are so pleased to support the talent and diverse stories that emerged from this round.

Development and production grant recipients will also receive support to attend Hot Docs 2016, where they will take part in a creative filmmakers lab, attend Hot Docs screenings, conference sessions, the Hot Docs Forum and various networking events, and participate in a year-round peer-to-peer mentorship programme. They will also receive support to attend and participate in the Durban International Film Festival (DIFF) and Durban FilmMart (DFM).

The $1-million Hot Docs-Blue Ice Group Documentary Fund was created in 2011 to help enable more African documentary filmmakers to tell their own stories, and contribute to the African documentary community s next generation. To date, the Hot Docs-Blue Ice Group Documentary Fund has awarded grants to 40 projects from 15 countries, as well as travel, accommodation and accreditation support to attend the Hot Docs Festival and Hot Docs-Blue Ice Group Filmmakers Lab, as well as DIFF and DFM. The fund has been generously replenished with an additional $1.25-million CAD by the Blue Ice Group.

Applications for the next round of disbursements will open in June 2016 and close in August 2016. For further information on the application process, eligibility requirements and deadlines, please visit the Hot Docs website.

Hot Docs-Blue Ice Group Documentary Fund development grants:

As I Want

Director: Samaher Alqadi

Producer: Karim El Hakim

Production Company: Prophecy Films

Country: Egypt

As I Want is a first-person narrative by an Arab woman who experiences an awakening, forcing her to confront the repressed life she is expected to lead and the freedom she desires.

Days of Cannibalism

Director: Teboho Edkins

Producer: Don Edkins

Production Company: Day Zero Films

Country: South Africa

A story about China and Africa, Days of Cannibalism moves from a hotel in Guangzhou to a bar in Lesotho, taking us deep into the lives of those living in the shadow of new economic realities.

Treasures from Heaven

Director: Adnane Baraka

Producer: Sarah Lamrini

Production Company: Arkhabil Films

Country: Morocco

A Moroccan nomad, a businessman and a scientist search for valuable meteorite debris dispersed in the desert of Western Sahara, desperate to change their own lives.

The Other Half of the African Sky

Director: Tapiwa Chipfupa

Producers: Tapiwa Chipfupa, Ben Mahaka

Production Company: Mahaka Media, TC Pictures

Country: Zimbabwe

Estranged from her family by a dispute over her marriage, Tapiwa Chipfupa attempts to reconcile the situation through encounters with other Zimbabwean women in this brutally honest and vivid portrait of contemporary Zimbabwe and its vast contradictions.

The Second Revolution

Director: Khalo Matabane

Producer: Neil Brandt

Co-Producers: Carolyn Carew, Dan Jawitz

Production Company: Fireworxmedia, Born Free Media Pty Ltd

Country: South Africa

A young militant political activist, disillusioned by injustice and inequality, rejects Nelson Mandela s narrative of forgiveness and reconciliation to challenge both white and black South African elites to eradicate the widening gap between the poor and the rich.

Hot Docs-Blue Ice Group Documentary Fund production grants:

The Letter

Director: Chris King, Maia von Lekow

Producer: Chris King, Maia von Lekow

Production Company: Circle and Square Productions

Country: Kenya

After his grandmother is accused of being a witch, a young rapper sacrifices his reputation to embark on an investigation to unmask the taboos around witchcraft.

Radicals

Directors: Withheld

Producers: Withheld

Production Company: Withheld

Country: Withheld

Radiclas tells the harrowing story of mothers whose children have been transformed into radicalised foreign fighters by the lure of ISIS.

Dream Away

Directors: Marouan Omara, Johanna Domke

Producers: Mark Lotfy, Roman Roitman

Production Company: Fig Leaf Studios, MONOKEL

Country: Egypt, Germany

Dream Away follows a generation of young Egyptians on their search for a new identity to the surreal tourist hub Sharm El Sheikh.

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