Senegalese capital plots the future of African cinema

For a few days now, the Senegalese capital has been hosting the Dakar Séries, a pan-African festival that offers a new platform to African film actors. 

A golden opportunity for Samba Diop, an executive in a telecommunication company, who came to present his very first series project.

"Festivals of this nature allow the different actors in this profession to meet. Scriptwriters need to present their scripts, they need to find producers but also distributors and all these professions are found here. So it is essential to come here. It is a great opportunity that the Dakar Series presents to us" admitted scriptwriter Samba Diop. 

The programme includes workshops, master classes, pitches and series competitions. Twenty-seven films are in the running in this first edition, including "Donne-moi Ta Vie" and "Les Intruses" in French by Moroccan director Chaouki El Ofir.

"What we haven't managed to do yet is to export our series. Apart from some good experiences, we are not yet at the stage of exporting our series. First of all, we have to watch African series among ourselves. The African market is very interesting, and at the same time the interactions between each other", said the Moroccan director.

It is also to break down barriers that Séraphine Angoula had the idea of bringing together the actors of African series for this festival.

"I expect there to be more synergy, I want people to meet, for synchronization to take place, for there to be Burkinabe, Nigerian, Moroccan and South African projects. That is the ambition. The ambition is that we work together, that we look for the best elsewhere and that we manage to create a structured industry in the long term", said festival director Séraphine Angoula.

Senegal correspondent for Africanews, Wahany Johnson Sambou added:

"Beyond the competitions, this Dakar series festival is also an opportunity for the actors of the sector to take stock of the situation. Exchanges have thus essentially revolved around development issues: financing, quality, opening up to the international market, etc. But one thing seems to be unanimously agreed upon here, and that is that the future of African cinema lies in series".