Kenyan filmmaker, Voline Ogutu, and five other Africans emerged winners of the Netflix and UNESCO Sub-Saharan Africa’s short film competition.
Other winners that emerged from the competition include Gcobisa Yako (South Africa), Loukman Ali (Uganda), Mohamed Echkouna (Mauritania), Korede Azeez (Nigeria) Walter Mzengi (Tanzania).
| Name | Country | The Mentor | Project name* | Language |
| Mr. Mohamed Echkouna | Mauritania | Femi Odugbemi | The Enmity Djinn | Hassaniya Arabic & French |
| Mr. Walter Mzengi | Tanzania | Tosh Gitonga, | Katope | KiSwahili & ciGogo |
| Ms. Korede Azeez | Nigeria | Jenna Bass | Adieu Salut | Hausa & Fulfulde (Fula) |
| Ms. Voline Ogutu | Kenya | Leila Afua Djansi | Anyango and the Ogre | English, KiSwahili & Luo |
| Ms. Gcobisa Yako | South Africa | Bongiwe Selane | Uma Mlambo | Xhosa |
| Mr. Loukman Ali | Uganda | Pape Boye | Katera of the Punishment Island | English & Runyankole |
Each winner will receive $25,000 plus a production budget of $75,000 to create short films through a local production company and under the guidance of Netflix-appointed supervising producer and industry mentors from across the continent.
“Congratulations to the six winners! The fact that their films will be shown to a global audience is part of our commitment to promote cultural diversity around the world,”Audrey Azoulay, Director-General of UNESCO said.
“ Like the African movie sector itself, these six individuals have a very bright future ahead of them. The laureates, and all the participants in this competition more broadly, highlight the rich, diverse and ever-evolving culture that Sub-Saharan Africa has to offer and that UNESCO wants to promote.”
The final six filmmakers will now go into the development phase of their projects, before starting production on the short films that will eventually premiere on Netflix as part of ‘An Anthology of African Folktales’ later this year.
The competition was launched by Netflix and UNESCO in October 2021, to promote diverse local stories and bring them to the world.
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