Open Doors 2012 : coup de projecteur sur l'Afrique francophone subsaharienne

Après l'Inde en 2011, la prochaine édition d'Open Doors, le laboratoire de coproduction du Festival del film Locarno, sera consacrée à l'Afrique francophone subsaharienne.

Avec le soutien de la Direction du développement et de la coopération (DSCDDC) du Département fédéral des affaires étrangères, la section Open Doors, qui s'intéresse chaque année à une région différente, a pour but principal d'aider les réalisateurs et les producteurs des pays du Sud et de l'Est, dans lesquels le cinéma indépendant est fragile.

Les inscriptions pour l'édition 2012 d'Open Doors sont ouvertes dès aujourd'hui sur le site www.opendoors.pardo.ch et sont réservées aux projets venant d'Afrique francophone subsaharienne: Bénin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroun, Comores, Côte d'Ivoire, Djibouti, Gabon, Guinée, Guinée Bissau, Guinée équatoriale, Ile Maurice, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritanie, Niger, République centrafricaine, République démocratique du Congo, République du Congo, Rwanda, Sénégal, Seychelles, Tchad, Togo.

Le Festival sélectionnera une douzaine de candidatures qui seront annoncées en mai 2012. Les projets finalistes seront présentés dans le cadre du laboratoire de coproduction Open Doors (4 - 7 août), qui aura la tâche de mettre en contact les professionnels de la région choisie avec des partenaires potentiels, principalement européens, afin de leur permettre de mener à bien leurs projets.

Au terme des trois jours de workshop, un prix d'une valeur de 50 000 CHF (environ 40 000 euros), financé par l'initiative Open Doors, sera remis. Un deuxième prix, d'une valeur de 7 000 euros sera offert par le CNC (Centre national du cinéma et de l'image animée) et ARTE attribuera l'International Relations ARTE Prize, d'une valeur de 6 000 euros.

La 65e édition du Festival del film Locarno se tiendra du 1er au 11 août 2012.

La feuille d'inscription à télécharger à partir de ce lien: [http://opendoorsefo.pardo.ch/ ]


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12 projects from francophone Sub-Saharan Africa have been selected for Open Doors, the Festival del film Locarno's co-production lab. Several leading figures in African cinema have already confirmed their attendance at the next edition of the Festival.

These are the 12 projects selected from 213 applications from 17 different countries:

Ailleurs (Away) by Leslie Tô (Burkina Faso)
Black Sunshine by Akosua Adoma Owusu (Senegal/Ghana)
De la rue à l'école (From Street to School) by Pape Tall (Senegal)
Faso Fani, la fin du rêve (Faso Fani, the End of the Dream) by Michel K. Zongo (Burkina Faso)
Fragments de vies (Pieces of Lives) by Laza (Madagascar)
Il Faut Quitter Bamako (We've Got to Leave Bamako) by Aïssa Maïga (Mali)
La prochaine fois, le Feu (Fire Next Time) by Mati Diop (Senegal)
Le Président (The President) by Jean-Pierre Bekolo (Cameroon)
Lombraz Kan (Shadows of the Sugarcane) by David Constantin (Mauritius)
Nyè (The Eye) by Daouda Coulibaly (Mali)
Pakitalaki, portrait d'une famille (Pakitalaki, Portrait of a Family) by Adama Sallé (Burkina Faso)
Toutes voiles dehors (Secret Faces) by Jean-Marie Teno (Cameroon).


Martina Malacrida, who runs the Open Doors section, comments that she is "especially happy with the quality and variety of the projects submitted" and adds that she is "delighted with the number of guests who already confirmed their attendance at Open Doors".

The filmmakers coming will include Idrissa Ouédraogo from Burkino Faso, who was in Locarno to introduce his film Yaaba on the Piazza Grande in 1989, and Gaston Kaboré, winner of the César for Best Francophone Film in 1983 for Wend Kuuni. Two other directors, the Malian Cheick Oumar Sissoko and the Mauritanian Abderrahmane Sissako, who made, respectively, Guimba (selected for Locarno in 1995) and Bamako (selected for Cannes in 2006), will participate in Open Doors.

The finalist directors and producers will participate in the Festival del film Locarno, where they will be put in contact with possible partners who could help find support to complete their projects. At the close of a three-day training seminar, an award worth 50,000 CHF (approx 40,000 euro), funded by the Open Doors initiative in collaboration with the town of Bellinzona, will go to one of the projects. A second award of 7,000 euro will be offered by the CNC (Centre national du cinéma et de l'image animée) and ARTE will award the International Relations ARTE Prize, worth 6,000 euro.

With support from the Swiss Foreign Ministry's Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), the Open Doors section, focusing on a different region every year, aims primarily to assist directors and producers from countries in the South and the East, where independent filmmaking is vulnerable.

This initiative is organised in close collaboration with the Festival Industry Office and enjoys support from the following partners: ACE (Ateliers du cinéma européen), EAVE (European Audiovisual Entrepreneurs), EPC (European Producers Club) and Producers Network Marché du Film (Festival de Cannes). Alex Moussa Sawadogo, African cinema expert and director of the Afrikamera festival in Berlin, works with the Festival on the Open Doors 2012 program.

The Open Doors co-production lab will be held 4 - 7 August as part of the 65th edition of the Festival del film Locarno, 1 - 11 August 2012.

The project submissions can be consulted on the website www.pardo.ch



Locarno Film Festival 2012 selects Film Critics.

The Critics Academy is a Festival del film Locarno initiative for 6
aspiring young film critics from Switzerland and abroad. The Critics'
Academy enjoys the support from the Ernst Göhner Stiftung (Zug).

The 2012 session is organized in collaboration with the American film
website Indiewire, the Film Society of Lincoln Center and the Swiss
Association of Film Journalists (ASGC).

The six selected film critics will be invited to Locarno to cover the
Festival by filing reviews of films in the program, articles on
special events, Festival section profiles and analysis, or interviews
with Festival guests. The program for participants will be organized
on a daily basis by Indiewire's Chief Film Critic and Senior Editor
Eric Kohn, and their reviews and articles may be published on
Pardolive (the Festival's website and daily newspaper), on Indiewire's
blog Criticwire, and on Film Society of Lincoln Center's filmlinc
website.

During the Locarno Festival, the Film Society of Lincoln Center will
select one or more participants and will invite them to take part in a
similar initiative at the New York Film Festival, September 28 to
October 14, 2012.

Furthermore the program includes conversations with critics present in Locarno, roundtables with guests and discussions with professionals, to connect the young critics to the workings of the industry.

The working language is English.

Applicants must be journalists who have completed a maximum of four years' university study and have published articles in English.

The Critics Academy allows young participants to:

* Enjoy the accommodation and buffet breakfast at the Youth Hostel
(semi-private) in Locarno from Tuesday, 31 July to Sunday, 12 August (12 nights);
* Follow the Festival with full press accreditation;
* * Review Festival's films and events according to the editorial line set by the coordinator Eric Kohn;
* Enjoy the group dinner of the Locarno Summer Academy with Festival's guests.

Travel expenses as well as noon and evening meals will be at the
participant's expense.

Indiewire will contribute with a share of the travel expenses depending on the country of origin of the partcipant.

Applications to the Critics Academy are to be submitted by Monday, 22 June 2012 to the indicated contacts through the form (available for
download at this page) and documentation:

* A personal statement of intent (500 words or less)
* Curriculum Vitae
* 4 articles/film reviews in English
* Digital ID photo (max. dimension 1 MB).

The selected candidates will be informed by email by Friday, 29 June 2012.