Speaking at the Emerging Black Filmmakers Workshop at the Durban International Film Festival (DIFF) that is currently in progress, the Department of Trade and Industry – DTI’s Director of Film Production, Nelly Molokoane, said:

The dti will spend R100 million to support emerging black filmmakers through the South Africa Emerging Black Filmmakers Incentive by the end of March 2018.

The workshop was targeted at emerging film producers who want to access the incentive scheme which has been able to support 40 projects of emerging filmmakers as part of the R100 million budget.

In her words, Molokoane acknowledged the fact that producers find it difficult accessing additional funds to finalise their projects due to financial constraints.

She confirms that the department has partnered with the Industrial Development Cooperation (IDC), National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF), South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) and provincial film commissions to assist filmmakers. Molokoane, on Sunday, said:

The scale of projects has been increasing since the inception of the scheme in 2014. The department approved 15 applications, thereafter it increased to 40 over a period of three years. Partnership with these institutions will yield positive results in the near future and we will see more productions being supported. We are planning to host intense workshops in various provinces to assist filmmakers’ access this support.

In his comment, beneficiary of the incentive, as well as director of the Marikana documentary “Miners Shot Down”, Rehad Desai, said the scheme was the most important development for the South African film industry. Desai said:

We are seeing far more films being produced since the launch of the scheme and this means funding of projects happens in a short space of time and one can go into production quicker. This also means our production companies are becoming sustainable.

The DIFF, which is an annual film festival and takes place in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal and will be running until 23 July, is one of the oldest and largest film festivals in the Southern Africa. The DIFF presents over 200 screenings celebrating the best in South African, African and international cinema.