With New Funds, Finance Models and Entrants Into African Market, Industry Professionals Poise for Disruption — and Hope to Profit

variety.com:

Christopher Vourlias The landscape for film finance in Africa might be rapidly evolving, but for the producers, financiers and assorted industry professionals on hand at the Durban FilmMart this week, a host of lingering questions remain about how to unlock the largely untapped potential of the continent’s screen industries.

From providing equitable access to the growing number of funding mechanisms set up to support African content production to ensuring those schemes are able to adapt to the challenges of the local market, many producers expressed both their hope and frustration with a global finance model that doesn’t always seem well-suited to the practical realities of filmmaking on the continent.

Regional and global streaming platforms have fueled a surge in production, but as was made clear by Amazon Prime Video’s abrupt pullout from the African market earlier this year, that model has left local producers at the mercy of decision-makers in far-off office suites.

Still, optimism was not in short supply in Durban, with industry reps from the region and across the globe buzzing with a sense of possibility. “The world is coming here,” said veteran U.S.