Encounters and Sithengi are proud to announce their joint venture:
DCF Deadline Extended
Friday 10 October 2003
Encounters and Sithengi have designed a programme of events leading up to the DCF. These are to assist African filmmakers develop their projects and create opportunities to pitch for a co-production deal to an international panel of broadcasters, producers and distributors.
Sithengi and Encounters will register all proposals for any documentary over 24 minutes received by the initial entry deadline. Dependent on the volume of submissions there may be a selection process for the Preliminaries.
These Preliminaries, in which filmmakers have 5 minutes to pitch their proposal to a Selection Panel, will be held in Cape Town, Johannesburg and Durban during the 5th Encounters South African International Documentary Festival 2003 at Cinema Nouveau screened by Nedbank.
The Selection Panel consisting of a broadcaster, distributor and producer, will make recommendations, and put forward between 10-20 projects for further development.
Filmmakers selected at the Preliminaries may avail themselves of the Consultations and the Pitching Workshop. They will then be required to submit a Treatment and a Budget.
These documents will be considered by South African broadcasters, who may make an offer on, or write a letter of intent for, a project for co-production.
In the last week of September filmmakers will be invited for Consultations with the Selection Panel.
In November there will be a two-day Pitching Workshop, prior to the 8th Sithengi Southern African International Film & Television Market with an expert who will advise filmmakers on their presentations and on the international commissioning editors and broadcasters who will be attending the DCF.
A finite number of proposals will be slated for the DCF. Those that are selected from the Preliminaries and which have been through the Consultation and the Pitching Workshop will be in line for an opportunity to pitch at the DCF.
All African filmmakers who have proposals, but who have not been through the Preliminaries, Consultations and Pitching Workshop, are not excluded from the DCF. However, to be considered for the DCF these proposals must have secured a minimum of 20% of the submitted budget, and attachment of your local broadcaster is beneficial.
There are two criteria, or limitations, for the DCF. The first criterion is time. There are limits on the number of slots available for Preliminaries, Consulations, Pitching Workshop and the DCF. The second criterion is quality. Encounters and Sithengi have developed this programme to assist filmmakers to prepare their pitch to a panel of international co-producers.
Pitching Panel
Peter Wintonick – Moderator
Canadian documentary director and producer. Best known for Cinema Veritè [screened Encounters 2000] and Manufacturing Consent, Wintonick has served on the jury at IDFA and a number of juries and panels internationally. He will be presenting his latest documentary film Seeing is Believing at Encounters 2003.
Paul de Bont – CEO of DocuZone, the Dutch digital distribution model [Cape Town only].
Archie Baron – UK Filmmaker and historian and director of Motherland – A Genetic Journey [Encounters 2003].
SABC1, SABC2, SABC3 and local distributors and producers.
For further information contact:
Sharon Jackson
Tel: + 27 21 426 0405
Fax: + 27 21 426 0577
Email: info@encounters.co.za
