FAME Week Africa has wrapped. The seven day event, held in the host city of Cape Town, focused on all things film, television, animation, music, and fashion. The week concluded with the FAME Shorts Film Festival Awards at The Labia Theatre in Cape Town.
“This year marks the third edition of FAME Week Africa and the exciting debut of the African Fashion Forum—a dynamic platform that brings fashion to the forefront in its interplay with film, culminating in the inaugural African Fashion Film Awards. The African Fashion Forum now stands alongside MIP Africa and Muziki Africa as key pillars of the event. We saw a 13% increase in attendance, featuring 59 international companies, 48 African companies, and 23 South African exhibitors. With over 2,000 meetings booked, we are optimistic that, as in past years, many of these discussions will lead to the creation of the next major series or movie, soundtrack, or even the latest African fashion trends featured in films and music videos,” says Martin Hiller, Portfolio Director: FAME Week Africa.
FAME Week Africa was headlined by the renowned US entertainer, Steve Harvey, who captivated the audience with stories from his career and his commitment to investing in Africa’s film and television infrastructure. A cornerstone of FAME Week is MIP Africa’s pitch sessions, designed to fuel creativity and innovation across the continent’s media and entertainment landscape. These sessions provide a dynamic platform for aspiring creators and industry professionals to showcase their talents, share their visions, and explore new opportunities for collaboration and growth. Through these pitches, FAME Week Africa strives to nurture emerging talent, ignite fresh ideas, and propel the African media and entertainment industry forward, highlighting the immense potential of African storytelling and innovation on a global stage.
Among the key events over the seven days, the Inclusive Lens Awards – a new award, sponsored by Urban Brew Studios, recognised series, films and documentaries that portray diverse themes. This is both content for children that features African characters and themes as well as works that celebrate LGBTQIA+ themes and disabilities. The list of the Inclusive Lens Award winners can be found here.
Another highlight was the signing of the amended Co-Production Treaty between South Africa and Canada. The signing was attended by South Africa’s Minister of Sport, Arts, and Culture, Gayton McKenzie, and Chris Cooter, High Commissioner for Canada in South Africa. The updated agreement makes room for new media, animation, and television production to be included in the existing agreement.
Key announcements from Showmax included the announcement of the first ever sci-fi series for Kenya, Subterranea, and MultiChoice’s latest addition to the canon of Nollywood films for Africa Magic, My Fairytale Wedding, was announced. At the opening of MIP Africa (FAME Week’s film and television content programme) MultiChoice General Entertainment CEO, Nomsa Philiso, confirmed that more African films and TV series are being broadcast globally than ever before.
Primedia Studios announced that it has signed a license agreement with the BBC Studios-owned production company Rapid Blue to bring the multi-award-winning format Dancing with the Stars back to South Africa. Primedia Studios has also acquired the rights to create a localised version of the reality show phenomenon The Traitors, which has spawned over 25 successful local adaptations in Europe, Australasia, and North America, and received BAFTA and Primetime Emmy Awards.
Netflix offered an exclusive first look at some of its upcoming programming from South Africa, along with a selection of global titles scheduled for release leading up to the festive season and the end of 2024.
Countries represented at FAME Week Africa 2024 included the Guest of Honour Country, Nigeria, as well as Botswana, Namibia, Canada, Jamaica, USA, France, UAE, New Zealand, Belgium, Ivory Coast, Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Zambia, Germany, India, Japan, Spain, Turkey, Netherlands, Philippines, Portugal, China and Mauritius.
For more information, visit FAME Week Africa’s website.
