A new traveling market platform designed to connect African creative producers with fresh sources of financing will launch with a series of events May 14 – 15 at the Cannes Marché du Film.
Curated and operated by the pan-African film studio Yetu (Un)limited, in partnership with Ctrl + Alt + Shift, Sanusi Development Studio and Kiasi, the Nomadic Film Space is designed to fill what its backers describe as “a critical gap in the international film industry” by connecting African and diaspora creative producers with private equity and institutional capital.
Organizers say the new initiative moves beyond conventional market encounters to create a structured environment where African cinema’s most entrepreneurial producers engage with investors who understand the sector on its own terms, from development and production through to distribution, curation and audience building.
“African, Afro-diasporic and Global South film industries are an archipelago filled with cultural resonance,” said Yanis Gaye, founder of Yetu (Un)limited. “In the ever-changing landscape of the international film industry, it is all the more crucial that we design infrastructures that allow serious investors to engage with these markets on their own terms — understanding how they operate, what success means within their specific contexts, and where strategic capital can generate sustainable prosperity.”
The platform will launch May 14 with events that include a workshop titled “Producing the Future: Innovative Financing Models for African Cinemas,” presented as part of the Marché du Film’s Producers Network, which will explore the organization and dynamics of Africa’s film financing landscape. Moderated by Kiasi’s Samuel Tebandeke, the workshop is designed to equip international producers with practical strategies for meaningful collaboration across the continent.
The session kicks off with Women in Film’s content analysis framework and ecosystem mapping in Nigeria and Kenya, followed by a panel featuring leaders from Docubox, Afreximbank and the Great Lakes Creative Producers Lab.
Also on May 14, organizers will present a case study highlighting the investment strategy of Afreximbank’s Canex Creations within the film and audiovisual sector, including project selection, financing structures and cross-territory partnership models. The session will be followed by a networking cocktail bringing together financiers, producers and industry partners.
Lastly, on May 15 at the Hotel Canopy, the organizers will present the second edition of “The African and Diasporic Audience Development Think Tank.” Initiated by Yetu (Un)limited in 2025, the traveling think tank combines market research with the co-creation of audience design methodologies for African cinema.
Its pilot edition, which was held in Salvador, Brazil, in partnership with the Mostra de Cinemas Africanos, generated case studies, qualitative audience design frameworks and the first edition of an ongoing publication. The Cannes session, presented with the support of IEFTF, will showcase the Brazil pilot findings and set the strategic framework for a dedicated support platform to grow revenue-generating audiences for African cinema globally.
The Nomadic Film Space is backed by sponsors and partners including Afreximbank, Film Fund Luxembourg, SACD (France, Belgium and Canada), Institut Français, SODEC, Téléfilm Canada, Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles & Wallonie-Bruxelles-International, CNC, the Cannes Marché du Film Producers’ Network, IEFTF and Ambassade de France en Guinée.
variety.com
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