OVER SH300,000 UP FOR GRABS IN AFRICAN FILM MAKING COMPETITION

Three African film creatives stand a chance to walk away with a seed funding of $2,500 (about Sh310,000) from NATIV Shorts Africa creative competition.

NATIV, an online crew and creative platform has launched its first competition, which is open to visual storytellers in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Ghana, Nigeria and Gambia.

The competition, which is offering a chance to creatives to win up to Sh310,000 in prizes and gain mentorship with African and global media industry executives, is calling on people experienced in creating documentary, promo, TV commercial, branded or YouTube content, or have worked with international clients, to apply.

NATIV Shorts will officially open on January 24 at 6pm when creatives will enter the first stage, which is sending applications to take part in the competition. The deadline for the initial stage is set for February 15, 2023 at 6pm.

For the initial stage, creatives will need to sign up on the NATIV website and then submit a one-minute film.

“For this stage, they will be asked to submit a simple short 30-second introduction video about their visual storytelling as a creative living and working in Africa. They can submit samples of previous work. This free-to-enter competition is to show the world what it means to be an African creative today,” said Margaret Kamau, a production assistant at NATIV.

From the entries, the jury, which comprises NATIV mentors and advisors, will select 12 visual storytellers, two from each country, to compete for the ultimate prize money and mentorship programme.

“Once the submissions are made, we will take about six weeks to review all the submissions then the jury will shortlist the 12 participants, two from each country, who’ll then be asked to produce a 60-second clip and five photos and then compete amongst each other for the ultimate grand prizes and funding to use as they wish,” Ms Kamau added.

During the production, advisors from the UK, Uganda, USA, Nigeria, Netherlands, and Kenya will mentor the 12 providing them with training and networking opportunities.