ACP audiovisual industry strengthens its competitiveness thanks to new subsidies

Eleven months after the launch of the first grant schemes for audiovisual co-production in Southern countries, partner international co-production funds allocated close to € 1,8 millions in support of over 50 projects for series, documentaries and film dramas from Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific.

The ACP-EU Culture Programme launched its first actions to support the ACP cultural sector in 2020, with very encouraging results.

The programme has set up an innovative support mechanism for audiovisual co-production in ACP countries, complementing the funding provided by existing co-production funds and facilitating access to them by operators. This decentralised approach aims to support the competitiveness and performance of the audiovisual sector in the ACP countries, in particular by improving the conditions for the creation and production of audiovisual works, strengthening the capacities of audiovisual sector players, and the circulation of ACP works on the various national and international markets.

Three funds in support of audiovisual co-production

This first mechanism has granted subsidies amounting to € 5.85 million, reinforcing the financial support of the Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie (OIF) and its partner the Fonds de Soutien à l’Industrie Cinématographique de Côte d’Ivoire (FONSIC), the Centre National du Cinéma et de l’Image Animée (CNC) and the World Cinema Fund (WCF) of the Berlinale.

After the first evaluation commissions for 2020, €1,793,000 have been allocated to support 52 fiction, series and documentary projects in 18 African and Caribbean countries (the list can be found in the annex).

A renewed vision for culture and creativity in ACP countries

In the coming weeks, the ACP-EU Culture Programme will announce the results of the call for proposals “Support to ACP cultural and creative industries”. As its name indicates, this second call is aimed at strengthening the competitiveness of cultural and creative industries within the ACP space and, in doing so, their contribution to the economies of the targeted countries.

With a budget of € 26 million, this initiative will inaugurate the establishment of a regional support mechanism for culture and creativity aimed at ensuring, among other things, a better distribution of funding between the six ACP regions, the multiplication of funding opportunities for cultural operators, a better structuring of the different cultural sectors at regional level, as well as better support and capacity building for cultural organisations and operators in the field.

During the first quarter of 2021, a final call for proposals amounting to € 4.15 million will select new audiovisual production funds active in ACP countries to complement the co-production support mechanism already set up in 2020.

See the lists of supported projects:

• Clap ACP projects
• Deental ACP projects
• WCF ACP projects