Hot Docs Sets Up Production Fund for African Filmmakers

TORONTO: Hot Docs and Blue Ice Film have aligned to create a C$1 million production fund that will provide financial support to independent documentary filmmakers based in developing African countries.

The goal is to increase the quality and quantity of social, cultural and political documentaries produced in Africa. The fund, established by Blue Ice Film, will be administered by Hot Docs and disbursements will be made over the next five years. The fund will disburse six to ten grants each year to successful applicants, ranging from C$10,000 to C$40,000. Along with financing, the initiative also encompasses a mentorship program, in which selected African producers will team with international production partners to bring their projects to international markets, festivals, broadcast and online audiences.

The first application deadline for the Hot Docs-Blue Ice Film Documentary Fund will be in fall 2011 and guidelines will be available in September. The five-member selection committee will consist of representatives from Hot Docs and Blue Ice Film, in addition to other international industry professionals.

"There are countless documentaries made about Africa, but not enough are made by Africans,” said a Blue Ice Film principal. “The goal of the Fund is to enable more Africans to tell their own stories and contribute to a new generation of African filmmakers.”

“A central part of our mission is to help filmmakers make great docs, and now we’re doing it in one of the most storied parts of the world,” added Chris McDonald, Hot Docs’ executive director. “The marketplace has changed and traditional funding sources for docs have become increasingly scarce. Blue Ice Film is joining us to create innovative solutions. This new initiative joins the Shaw Media-Hot Docs Funds in what we hope will be an ever-widening portfolio of production funds to support filmmakers, both in Canada and abroad.”