Three African screenwriters will pitch initiatives spanning a spread of genres on the sixteenth Collection Mania in Lille, France.

The road-up consists of South Africa’s Mlilo Mpondo, the creator of the comedy drama sequence  “Girls From the thirteenth Flooring”; Uganda’s Talemwa Pius, together with his Western sequence “Mad Bounty and the Midnight Gun”; and L.A.-based Kenyan screenwriter Tony Koros, who’s creating the comedy sequence “Cash City.”

The three writers, who will likely be pitching their initiatives on March 25 in the course of the AuthenticA African Collection Pitch, are the most recent members of the AuthenticA Collection Lab, a coaching programme for African screenwriters that mixes on-line workshops, masterclasses with business professionals and residencies in South Africa and Switzerland. The lab is organized by the Cape City-based Realness Institute, in partnership with the StoryBoard Collective, and with the help of the Collection Mania Discussion board and Canada Media Fund.

The writers have spent the previous six months working with a mentoring crew of inventive producer Mehret Mandefro and script advisor Selina Ukwuoma, who additionally co-designed this system.  

“Creating devoted areas the place African screenwriters can discover their voice and refine their craft, supported and uninterrupted, isn’t just invaluable — it’s important for Africa to find out her future,” mentioned Mandefro, who’s appearing managing director on the Realness Institute.

Ukwuoma added: “Via AuthenticA, the writers have had the time and help to nurture each their inventive {and professional} growth. They arrive to Collection Mania with a powerful sense of who they’re and what they’ve to supply the worldwide market. And it’s hearth. They’ll set the world alight.”

“After seeing their tales develop from Cape City to Geneva, we’re excited to see the three scriptwriters on stage,” mentioned StoryBoard Collective founder David Rimer. “Every of those tales, in its personal method, actually embodies what AuthenticA stands for — bringing genuine tales to life.” 

South African author Mlilo Mpondo, whose debut novel “Issues My Mom Left Me” was revealed in 2022, explores themes of identification, heritage and womanhood in her work. This week in Lille she’ll be presenting her 8×52” comedy drama sequence “Girls From the thirteenth Flooring,” which follows Khanya, a university dropout turned reluctant prostitute whose life will get turned upside-down when her finest buddy dies, leaving Khanya to take care of the lady’s 6-year-old son.

Ugandan author and director Talemwa Pius is a graduate of the MultiChoice Expertise Manufacturing unit Academy and the New York Movie Academy’s Quick Kind Storytelling Workshop whose quick movie “Engaito” was awarded on the Africa Magic Viewers’ Selection Awards (AMVCA) in 2021. His 8×60” Western sequence “Mad Bounty and the Midnight Gun” takes place in Nineteenth-century Sudan after the defeat of the British Military and follows the scramble by outlaws and bounty hunters to find a mythic weapon that would reshape the steadiness of energy throughout colonial-era Africa.

Kenyan screenwriter Tony Koros, who relies in L.A., is a 2021 Sundance Screenwriters and Administrators Lab Fellow and a recipient of movie grants from the Tribeca Movie Institute and the Hollywood Overseas Press Affiliation, amongst others. His newest quick movie, “Tithes & Choices,” premiered in competitors on the Clermont-Ferrand Worldwide Quick Movie Pageant in 2019. His 8×30” comedy sequence “Cash City” is ready in a fictional village in Kenya, the place the seemingly idyllic rural life is upended after the villagers are the recipients of a large Common Fundamental Earnings grant.

The AuthenticA Pitch is a part of a broader African presence at this yr’s Collection Mania Discussion board that features the African Abilities and Business Breakfast, a networking occasion that focuses on African expertise and goals to develop collaboration between African and worldwide business consultants. This breakfast is hosted by Maison des Mondes Africains, Institut Français, the Realness Institute and the StoryBoard Collective.

Francesco Capurro, the director of the Collection Mania Discussion board, mentioned: “Collection Mania Discussion board offers a global platform for proficient voices from Africa. I’m thrilled that, by means of this partnership with Realness, we will help them join with companions and produce their initiatives to life.”

Pictured (L. to R.): Mlilo Mpondo (South Africa); Talemwa Pius (Uganda); Tony Koros (Kenya)

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