The African Producers Accelerator, an initiative designed to deal with persistent {industry} limitations confronted by mid-career African movie and tv producers, has chosen the six individuals who will participate in its 2026 version.
The producers, who had been chosen from 267 functions submitted throughout 31 nations, are South Africa’s Babalwa Baartman (“Good Madam”) and David Franciscus (“Street Trash”); Nigeria’s Mimi Bartels (“Adire”) and Abba Makama (“The Lost Okoroshi”); Ghana’s Kofi Owusu-Afriyie (“The Fisherman”); and Sudan’s Khalid Awad (“Goodbye Julia”).
Launched in 2025 by Huge World Cinema in collaboration with the Bertha Basis, the APA appears to be like to craft a response to the industry-specific challenges many African producers face by combining bespoke advisory work, enterprise improvement assist and curated entry to buyers and worldwide networks.
After three months of intensive preparation as a part of its sophomore version, the individuals will pitch their initiatives to chose movie buyers: first, on the conclusion of a lab going down in Cape City in July, and once more at CANEX WKND, a four-day {industry} occasion going down in Lagos in November.
There they’ll be joined by the alumni of the APA’s inaugural version, who will take part within the investor program alongside the incoming cohort. The alumni embrace Funmbi Ogunbanwo (“My Father’s Shadow”), Neo Baloyi (“Collision”), Annemarie du Plessis (“Variations on a Theme”), Jorge Cohen (“Meu Semba”), Josh Olaoluwa (“One Woman One Bra”) and Zoe Ramushu (“Real Estate Sisters”).
The choice of this 12 months’s individuals was introduced Friday on the Cannes Film Festival, the place this system’s backers additionally shared particulars of two new partnerships that look to shore up assist from main African establishments.
South Africa’s Nationwide Movie and Video Basis (NFVF), the federal government movie funding company, has joined as a program associate and can assist the lab that takes place in Cape City, the place individuals will hone their pitches to potential buyers.
CANEX (Inventive Africa Nexus), a program launched by the African Export-Import Financial institution (Afreximbank) to advertise Africa’s artistic industries, has additionally joined as this system’s pan-African institutional associate, and can be part of the APA in delivering its culminating leg at CANEX WKND in November.
There the individuals will ship formal pitch displays to chose movie buyers and financiers, participate in curated one-on-one funding conferences and profit from direct entry to CANEX’s funding pipeline and decision-makers.
“We are thrilled to see African partners joining the Accelerator and are happy to increase the offering for support for African producers,” mentioned APA co-founder Tamsin Ranger.
The 2026 version of the African Producers Accelerator is managed by Huge World Cinema and backed by founding associate the Bertha Basis. It’s led by Huge World’s Tamsin Ranger and Steven Markovitz (“Rafiki,” “Beats of the Antonov”), who collectively carry greater than three a long time of expertise producing and distributing movies throughout Africa.
They’re joined by a workforce of senior {industry} advisors, amongst them Erica Motley Dupuis, a former acquisitions exec at HBO, UIP and Fox and government producer at Influence X Capital, the place she focuses on African-led movie, tv and animation; and Lina Chaabane, a Tunisian producer at Nomadis Photographs and member of the FESPACO creative choice committee, whose credit throughout almost three a long time embrace movies by Kaouther Ben Hania and Asmae El Moudir.
This 12 months’s cohort options six producers who’ve already established themselves on world cinema’s largest levels. Babalwa Baartman is the producer of “Good Madam” (Mlungu Wam), which premiered on the Toronto Worldwide Movie Competition and bought to Shudder. Mimi Bartels, a co-founder of Anakle Movies, is certainly one of Nigeria’s highest-grossing producers, with credit together with “Adire” and “Kambili: The Whole 30 Yards,” each of which had been acquired by Netflix. Kofi Owusu-Afriyie’s debut characteristic, “The Fisherman,” premiered on the Venice Movie Competition to acclaim in 2024.
Lagos-based Abba Makama is a multi-hyphenate filmmaker whose work contains TIFF premieres “Green White Green” and “The Lost Okoroshi.” Khalid Awad is a producer and cinematographer whose credit embrace “Goodbye Julia,” Mohamed Kordofani’s debut characteristic that received the Freedom Prize on the Cannes Movie Competition in 2023. And David Franciscus is a style producer and pageant director bringing African horror and style cinema to worldwide screens. His movie “Street Trash” screened at Rotterdam earlier than being acquired by Screambox.
Owusu-Afriyie and Awad are at the moment creating new initiatives supported by the Subsequent Narrative Africa Fund.
The APA is funded by the Bertha Basis, the Nationwide Movie and Video Basis of South Africa (NFVF), and CANEX. The investor engagement program is co-designed and co-delivered in partnership with HEVA Fund and Oxbelly. Program companions embrace the Durban FilmMart Institute and Central Movie College, which in its position as advisory associate helps this system’s pedagogical method and monitoring and analysis processes.
“At CANEX, we are committed to unlocking the full potential of Africa’s creative economy by supporting the talent, institutions and platforms that will shape its future,” mentioned Temwa Gondwe, Afreximbank’s director of creatives and diaspora. “Our partnership with the African Producers Accelerator reflects that commitment, and we are proud to help create new pathways for African producers to access investment, strengthen their projects and connect with global industry opportunities.”
“We are proud to be supporting the empowerment of African producers and filmmakers,” mentioned Bertha Basis founder Tony Tabatznik. “Their voices are important to problem the dominant narratives of Africa.’’
“The APA is an important initiative supporting robust producers across the continent,” added NFVF manufacturing and improvement supervisor Refiloe Hlabioa. “We consider it should assist develop the community of African producers who will ship our future movies.’’
Pictured (high, l. to r.): Abba Makama, Babalwa Baartman, David Franciscus; (backside, l. to r.): Khalid Awad, Kofi Owusu-Afriyie, Mimi Bartels
