Documentary Co-Production Forum preliminaries kicks off

The Documentary Co-Production Forum, DCF, presented by Encounters, the South African International Documentary Festival and Sithengi, the Southern African Film and Television Market is now in its second year and quickly proving to be at the forefront of documentary project development.

The DCF for 2003 proved to be a tremendous success. Would you believe this year promises to be more exigent, judging from the quality and excellence of projects received for 2004.

The preliminary pitching sessions for 2004 will be held in Cape Town on Saturday 24 July, SABC Beach Road, Sea Point and in Johannesburg Saturday 31 July, SABC Auckland Park.

Those selected for the Preliminaries will pitch to a panel of commissioning editors and international experts. If selected after the Preliminaries you will then participate in Consultations to further develop your project. Projects that fit the criteria will also be submitted to the FORUM for International Co-financing of Documentaries (IDFA).

The final call for documentary projects will then be issued in September and projects with either broadcaster commitment and/or 20% of the budget secured will be eligible for selection to pitch at the DCF at Sithengi to a panel of 10 international Commissioning Editors.

24 September: Final call for submissions
15 October: Deadline for all submissions from SA and Africa
15-21 September: Consultations in JHB and CT
14-15 November: Pitching workshops in CT
16-19 November: Sithengi Film and TV Market in Cape Town
16-17 November: Encounters/ Sithengi Documentary Co-production Form