Realness Institute and FAME Week Africa Collaborate to Empower African Creatives

Realness Institute has announced a significant partnership with FAME Week Africa, in which it will be hosting three of its programmes – the Southern Africa-Locarno Industry Academy, the Realness Screenwriters’ Residency, and Episodic Pitches – for the first time in Cape Town, South Africa from September 3 to 9 this year.

The Southern Africa-Locarno Industry Academy is a Locarno Film Festival initiative dedicated to the development of young film professionals working in various aspects of the film industry. Nine film professionals will be provided with an opportunity to participate in a focused programme of networking meetings with international professionals, masterclasses, workshops, and panel discussions at FAME Week Africa. They will also play an active role in curating its short film programme to be screened at The Labia Cinema in Cape Town.

Realness Screenwriters’ Residency, the 7th in its edition, is an incubator for African screenwriters that provides one-on-one practical support through mentorship, focusing on the creative aspects of their work while Episodic Pitches will have its first edition this year, bringing the best of the series concepts developed across all Realness’s Episodic efforts from 2021 to 2023. A cohort of 10 creators will be invited to present their well-crafted and developed ideas on stage.

These three programmes housed by Realness Institute, which now has its permanent home base at The Coot Club in Stanford, Western Cape South Africa, will provide opportunities for African filmmakers to develop film and television projects, widen their international networks, and strengthen industry skills. FAME Week Africa is a development and networking platform for the African creative industries, including film, television, animation, music, and entertainment technology. The three Realness programs will be housed within the MIP Africa event at FAME Week, which is a B2B market for film, television, digital content distribution, and co-production businesses in Sub-Saharan Africa.

“We hope to expand this partnership even further and to continue to supply the best talent and stories incubated by the Realness Institute, with an aim to stimulate the appetite of buyers and investors to return to FAME Week Africa for more quality projects in the future,” said Elias Ribeiro co-founder and Executive Director of Realness Institute and Regional Manager of Locarno Industry Academy.

Mentors for these programmes include Ayanda Halimana, Cait Pansegrouw, Denis Ruh, Eddie Bertozzi, Elias Ribeiro, Frank Spotnitz, Femi Odugbemi, Mehret Mandefro, Mmabatho Kau, Ozi Menakaya, Pauline Fischer, Selina Ukwuoma and Thandeka Zwana to name a few.