The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) has, through its South African Emerging Black Filmmakers Incentive, committed R100-million to supporting emerging black filmmakers by the end of March 2018.
The DTI has partnered with the Industrial Development Cooperation, the National Film and Video Foundation, the South African Broadcasting Corporation and provincial film commissions to assist filmmakers.
“Partnership with these institutions will yield positive results and we will see more productions being supported. We are planning to host intense workshops in various provinces to assist filmmakers in accessing this support,” DTI film production director Nelly Molokoane said at the Durban International Film Festival which is being held from July 13 to 28.
She added that, to date, the incentive scheme has supported 40 projects from emerging filmmakers.
Director of the Marikana documentary Miners Shot Down, Rehad Desai, who is a beneficiary of the incentive, said it was the most important development for the South African film industry.
“We are seeing more films being produced since the launch of the scheme and this means funding of projects happens in a shorter space of time,” he said.