No U-Turn by Ike Nnaebue

The Berlinale World Cinema Fund (WCF), with its differentiated funding programme (WCF, WCF Europe, WCF Africa, WCF ACP), is committed to cultural diversity, cooperation, sustainable development and the promotion of cinema in regions with weak film infrastructures. Since its foundation in 2004, the WCF has pledged to play a constructive part in the democratisation of international filmmaking – taking into account the relations between European countries with well-established film industries and countries of the so-called Global South.

Despite the pandemic, 2021 was - paradoxically - an extremely successful year for the World Cinema Fund. A large number of artistically significant films (16 world premieres in total) were selected at major film festivals and many of them received major awards. The pandemic does not seem to dominate the narratives of the projects submitted, but they do question the cultural complexity of the world.

Already at the start of this year, a WCF-funded film could celebrate a special success: Eami by Paz Encina (Paraguay) was awarded the Tiger Award for Best Film in the competition in Rotterdam.

“Over the years, we have become increasingly aware that this democratisation must be viewed as part of a more complex discussion and strategy: the decolonisation of cinema - the main theme of the World Cinema Fund last year - with its various structural, cultural-political layers and meanings. This is also about questioning our own identity and our funding strategies in a constructive process. It is a matter of developing decolonising strategies and making them visible. For this reason, on WCF Day 2022 we have decided to address some essential issues relating to the need for a better balance between the different film industries and film initiatives in the world,” says head of the WCF, Vincenzo Bugno.

WCF Day is the World Cinema Fund’s annual public think-tank. The panels and rounds of discussion on February 16, 2022 will be focusing on the further development of funding and decolonising strategies. The WCF Day on February 16, 2022 will take place in cooperation with Berlinale Talents. The online event in English will start at 1.30 pm and end around 4.30 pm.

The livestream can be watched on the Berlinale YouTube channel and on the WCF Facebook page.

WCF Day: Further Developing Decolonising Strategies for Film Cultures and Film Industries, Re-Thinking Funding Strategies for the Past, Present and Future of Cinema in the WCF Regions

1.30 pm Start / Presentation by Vincenzo Bugno (head of the WCF) and Isona Admetlla (WCF coordinator)

Talks:

NO U-TURN & Generation Africa
Vincenzo Bugno, head of the WCF in conversation with Ike Nnaebue (director of No U-Turn, Nigeria - Panorama 2022,); Don Etkins (producer, South Africa) Tiny Mungwe (producer, South Africa)

Decolonising Cinema Strategies / South to South
Marjorie Bendeck (International Advisor / head of CoCo, Cottbus) in conversation with Eliane Ferreira (producer, Brazil / Portugal); Bradley Liew (Producer, Malaysia / Philippines); Isabel Arrate (deputy director IDFA / managing director Bertha Fund, Netherlands)

Decolonising Distribution / Contextualising Visibility
Presentation by the Berlinale Executive Director Mariette Rissenbeek and the Head of the WCF, Vincenzo Bugno
Alaa Karkouti (marketing and creative consultancy expert for the Arab film and Entertainment Industry / CEO MAD Solutions, Egypt) in conversation with Weije Lai (producer / curator, Singapore / Canada), Steven Markowitz (Producer, South Africa); Fiorella Moretti (World Sales LUXBOX, France / Peru), Benjamin Cölle (academic / expert for Audience Design and Story Development, Germany)

Decolonising Cinema / Decolonising History / Changing the Prospective
Presentation by Lutz Nitsche, German Federal Cultural Foundation and Vincenzo Bugno, WCF

Two Talks on WCF-Supported Projects From Argentina and Kenya
Puan by Maria Alché and Benjamin Naishtat (Argentina)
Testament by Zippy Kimundu (Kenya) and Meena Nanji (USA / Kenya), Wanjugu Kimathi (protagonist, Kenya)

4.30 pm End of WCF DAY