Encounters, in partnership with Al Jazeera, is calling African filmmakers to submit proposals for the Al Jazeera Pitching Forum, taking place in Johannesburg, during the 17th Encounters South African International Documentary Festival, on 10th June 2015.

For the 4th Al Jazeera Pitching Session, a maximum of 12 African filmmakers will be selected to pitch to Al Jazeera commissioning editors.

The Call is open to projects at any stage of development or production, and Encounters is offering a limited number of travel grants to selected African filmmakers from outside Johannesburg and South Africa.

Each filmmaker selected will have a maximum of seven minutes to pitch their film, with an additional 7 minutes allocated for feedback and questions from the Al Jazeera commissioning editor. Projection equipment will be provided for those that have DVDs or other visual presentations to augment their pitch.

All filmmakers who have been selected to pitch must be available for a one-day pitching workshop that will take place the day before the Pitching Forum. These filmmakers will have an opportunity to discuss their pitch with an experienced filmmaker who will serve as a Tutor. The Tutor will assist filmmakers to hone their ideas, the structure of their stories in order for them to present a well-constructed pitch to the panel. During the workshop, the tutor will provide inside knowledge on working with Al Jazeera.

Encounters will also host an Al Jazeera information and networking session before the Pitch program begins.

Interested parties should send:

– A one-page synopsis of their film.
– A one-page biography of the filmmaker and producer, including complete contact details (telephone number, city of residence, home and work addresses).
– One page of further background information and/or visual treatment of the subject.
– A brief motivation for a travel grant to attend the Pitching Forum, if applicable
– Links to previous works and promo of proposal, if available.

Send to: festival@encounters.co.za on or before 4pm (South African time), Tuesday 2nd June 2015. 

Any questions can be sent to the email address or call 021 4615962.