Al Jazeera-Encounters Pitching Forum

African filmmakers are invited to submit proposals for the Al Jazeera-Encounters Pitching Forum in Johannesburg on Saturday, 10 June 2017, during the 19th Encounters South African International Documentary Festival. A maximum of 12 African filmmakers will be selected to pitch to an Al Jazeera commissioning editor. The call is open to projects at any stage of development or production. Each selected filmmaker will have a maximum of seven minutes to pitch their film, with an additional seven minutes allocated for feedback and questions from the Al Jazeera commissioning editor.

The Encounters South African International Documentary Festival, in partnership with Al Jazeera, is calling African filmmakers to submit proposals for the Al Jazeera-Encounters Pitching Forum taking place in Johannesburg during the 18th Encounters South African International Documentary Festival on Saturday, 11 June 2016.

Documentary Festival Encounters, in partnership with Al Jazeera, called 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. Encounters is pleased to announce that it will host the 4th Al Jazeera Pitching Session and 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. Pitching Workshop 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. Al Jazeera Networking Session Encounters will also host an Al Jazeera information and networking session before the Pitch program begins.

Two commissioning editors from Al Jazeera listened to pitches from 16 African filmmakers on Saturday 15 June 2013 in Cape Town. Each person had a maximum of five minutes to pitch their film, with an additional 10 minutes allocated for feedback and questions from the panel. This is the second year in a row that Al Jazeera has hosted a pitching session during Encounters International Documentary Film Festival that runs from 6 to 16 June in Johannesburg and Cape Town. In 2012, Mayenzeke Baza pitched Ndiyindoda: I Am a Man, which went on to screen on Al Jazeera earlier this year.

AJ Pitching forum general details – For six years, this Pitching Forum has grown immensely in both popularity and prestige and is now one of the largest, long-running documentary pitching opportunities in Africa. The partnership has been important in providing opportunities through film commissions, networking and learning engagements for African film practitioners.