Kenya’s June Wairegi is among the producers selected for the first Africa cohort of the Locarno Film Festival’s Open Doors program – the co-production platform and talent development initiative for filmmakers from equity-seeking communities and regions where artistic expression is at risk.
In 2024, the festival announced a four-year focus on African cinema for its 2025 to 2028 cycle, aimed at supporting filmmakers from 42 African countries through co-production opportunities, producer training, and director development initiatives. This year’s edition will run from 7 – 12 August 2025.
“The inception of the new cycle of Open Doors is an exciting marker of the role African film industries will play within the global independent film landscape in years to come,” said Yanis Gaye, the new Head of Studies at Open Doors. “The platform designed by our passionate artistic team is a space where talents will be empowered to continue to shape the instruments, strategies, and community these filmmakers need to see their projects and careers blossom.”
Wairegi joins five other African producers for the Open Doors Producers program, which seeks to foster collaborative networks and reinforce collective production models within the continent. The other participants include Rwanda’s Yannick Mizero Kabano, Angola’s Kamy Lara, Zimbabwe’s Kudi Maradzika, Burkina Faso’s Moustapha Sawadogo, and Ethiopia’s Leul Shoaferaw.
Most recently, Wairegi produced the romantic comedy Sayari, which she also co-wrote, with Omar Hamza directing. Released in April, Sayari tells the story of a struggling BnB manager in Tigoni, whose quiet life is disrupted when she is recruited by the father of a runaway groom to ensure he makes it to his wedding.
Alongside the Open Doors Producers, six African projects in development have been selected to participate in the co-production platform – Open Doors Projects. They include Zimbabwe’s supernatural mystery Black Snake, directed by Naishe Nyamubaya and produced by Sue-Ellen Chitunya; Ethiopia’s dark comedy Firtuna (The Fortunate), directed by Habtamu Gebrehiwot and produced by Nahusenay Dereje; Journal Intime d’une Femme-Chèvre (Diary of a Goat Woman), a co-production between Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso, directed by Azata Soro and produced by Nameïta Lica Toure, Nigeria’s reincarnation romance Kachifo (Till the Morning Comes), directed by Dika Ofoma and produced by Blessing Uzzi; Senegal and France co-production Lutteurs (Fighters), a wrestling family drama directed by Alassane Syand and produced by Jules Dieng; and Democratic Republic of Congo’s documentary Les Bilokos, directed by Erickey Bahati and produced by Giresse Kassonga.
On 12 August, a panel of professional jury members will grant financial and in-kind awards to the selected winning projects. They include the Open Doors Grant of CHF 50,000 sponsored by visions sud est and the City of Bellinzona; the CNC Development Prize worth EUR 8,000; and the Arte Kino International Prize of EUR 6,000.
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