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DURBAN FILM OFFICE
www.durbanfilmoffice.co.za
GROWING A FILM SERVICE CULTURE develop local location scouts and expose young
and previously disadvantaged filmmakers to the
This year marks the 15-year anniversary of the business of location scouting and eventually full
establishment of the Durban Film Office (DFO), the location management.
eThekwini Municipality’s film industry development In 2009, the DFO established a highly successful market
unit.
access programme, the Durban FilmMart (DFM), in
“The film industry is not merely about the creative partnership with the Durban International Film Festival.
process and end product, there is an entire value chain The DFM is an African co-production market that aims
that benefits from it: from locations and infrastructure, to promote collaboration between Durban-South
logistics and services, hospitality and catering, post Africa, Durban-Africa and the global markets.
production and distribution amongst other things,” The market provides opportunities for emerging,
said Toni Monty, Head of the Durban Film Office.
intermediate and professional level filmmakers,
The DFO was established in 2003 by the eThekwini and this year celebrates its 10th edition in July 2019
Municipality as a sector development office is alongside the celebration of 40 years of the Durban
mandated to promote and support the development International Film Festival.
of local film and television industry in Durban. The DFO The DFM has worked with more than 200 projects
has spearheaded several developmental programmes in development with countless success stories such
to build capacity and awareness of the local industry, as Five Fingers For Marseilles, Alison, Inxeba (The
one of these being the Ethekwini Filmmakers Wound), Train of Salt and Sugar (the latter two were
Association (EFA) in 2011.
SA’s and Mozambique’s official selection for Oscar
A Micro Budget Film Fund was established in consideration) amongst many others.
2012 and provides emerging filmmakers with an The DFO and DFM has formed strong partnerships with
opportunity to produce their first film within a “sister city” festivals in Nantes (3 Continent Festival)
mentoring environment. The DFO has supported and the International Film Festival of Rotterdam;
25 micro-budget producers, and 12 films have been
completed with others still in production. festivals and markets such as Berlinale, Hotdocs
Canada and Caribbean Tales Canada, Sundance
The DFO established its Development Fund, designed Film Festival (USA), International Documentary
to assist intermediate and professional filmmakers Festival of Amsterdam (Netherlands), and funding
to package film projects for the broader market and and investment agencies such as National Film and
increase capacity to attract production funding from Video Foundation, Westgro and Department of Trade
provincial and national funding agencies and private and Industry. Going forward the DFM has upcoming
investors. The programme has worked with eight relations with the Motion Picture Association and in
projects, two of which are completed and the other six 2018 a Memorandum of Understanding was signed
are still in development. between the DFO and the KZN Film Commission to
The DFO has developed a Location Scout Service, to ensure good intergovernmental cooperation and
further incentivise local and foreign productions to programme synergies.
scout Durban as a potential location for their next A key focus of the strategy is to develop programmes
project. ‘SCOUT’ is a programme to provide and to attract functioning production hubs into the City. To
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