The Durban FilmMart Institute (DFMI) has opened the call for participants for the next edition of the Future Mentors Programme …
It will be held in East Africa with the support of the Fund for Authors and Producers from Africa (FAPA) and will take place in Nairobi from 1 to 5 February 2027.
The Future Mentors Programme’s mission is to address the scarcity of mentors originating from the African continent and its diaspora, while simultaneously equipping the next generation of mentors in Africa with the essential skills they need. It is a capacity-building programme designed to support seasoned film professionals who possess a genuine desire to share their expertise with aspiring film practitioners.
Having successfully completed its inaugural edition in South Africa (2024), expanded to fourteen African labs at FESPACO in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso (2025), and delivered its second and third editions in French-speaking West Africa (Senegal) and Arabic-speaking North Africa (Tunisia), the programme is now poised for its next edition in East Africa with its implementing partner, Docubox.
“When we launched Future Mentors, we wanted to do more than train individuals: we wanted to build a pipeline of African mentors who can carry the work of raising a new generation of filmmakers forward themselves. The response from the 2025 editions in Dakar and Tunis confirmed this need,” says Magdalene Reddy, Director of the Durban FilmMart Institute. “As we move our focus to East Africa, we acknowledge that there is already a deep reservoir of experienced producers and story consultants, and we look forward to seeing them take up the mentoring space. Our thanks go to the FAPA partners and Docubox for working with us to make this edition possible.”
The Future Mentors Programme invites producers and creative producers who have a desire to enter the mentorship space and hold African passports from the following East African countries: Burundi, Comoros, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar, Mauritius, Uganda, Rwanda, Seychelles, Somalia, South Sudan and Tanzania.
The programme is looking for filmmakers who have experience as producers or creative producers. Applicants should have film credits in one of these roles on at least two feature-length documentary and/or fiction films, have been active in the film industry for at least five years, and have attended development labs and programmes or have experience working with grassroots training programmes.
Acceptance into the programme will not be based on a specific film project. Applicants do not need an active film project to participate. The programme is open to filmmakers working across documentary, fiction and animation.
Selected participants will need to be available for two online introductory sessions in January and six days of in-person training in Nairobi in February 2027.
Film professionals interested in the programme will need to provide a detailed curriculum vitae (CV) with a filmography, two contactable referees, two reference letters from a reputable film lab or training institute and a one-page letter of motivation to be considered for participation. Application forms must be completed in English.
Applications close on Sunday 22 November 2026 at 23:59 (CAT). All applicants will be notified by 8 December 2026 of the outcome of their application.
Find out more and APPLY HERE.