Open Doors, the Locarno Film Festival’s co-production platform and talent development program for filmmakers from communities and regions seeking justice where artistic expression is at risk, is gearing up for its second edition with a focus on African cinema, as it unveils on Monday its selection of 2026 projects and producers.
Organizers promise a “bold and diverse list of voices from across the African continent” for an edition that brings together filmmakers whose work spans fiction, documentary and animation across more than 10 countries. The Open Doors programme, which runs from August 5 to 10, offers hands-on training, mentoring and networking, along with public screenings and events during the Locarno Film Festival and its industry arm Locarno Pro.
The 2026 Open Doors Projects exhibition showcases six first and second features in development—from portraits of music and memory to explorations of femininity, urban life, and the long shadows of colonialism.
The Open Doors Producers programme, which supports producers in building sustainable careers and cross-border networks, also has six participants. Finally, the Open Doors Directors Selection brings together five directors for a program of talks, workshops and industry networking. Their short films will be part of this year’s Open Doors screenings.
“We look forward to underscoring the richness of storytelling across the continent, through artistic voices and creative entrepreneurs who are strongly committed to meeting their audiences at home, within the diaspora, and internationally,” said Yannis Guy, Head of Studies at Open Doors. “Our program is set up to allow these synergies – within our group; between them and Open Doors alumni from other regions; and through the encounters they will have in Locarno – to take hold through tangible, actionable interactions. African film ecosystems and their practitioners represent an opportunity for the industry to redesign some of the ways we think globally about our co-production practices, our audience building strategies, and the economics of cinema as a whole.”
Zsuzzi Pancuti, President of Open Doors, added: “With this selection, we are reaffirming something we believe strongly in: that the future of cinema depends on who makes it and how. One of my hopes for this edition, and for Open Doors more broadly, is to continue to amplify female voices, both behind the camera and in the producer’s chair. Gender equality in our industry is not just a goal for the screen, it must be lived by the way we work and who we are.” Support.”
Her team is also monitoring more. “What excites me most about this year’s selection is that so many of these filmmakers realize that cinema is never a solo act. Film is always made by many hands, many minds, and many stories. The more we build our industry on this truth — on horizontal collaboration, on true equality within our creative communities, on more diversity — the richer and truer our cinema will become.”
On Monday, August 10, a jury composed of specialists in this field will award financial and in-kind prizes to the winning projects. New this year is that the professional training organization EAVE, in collaboration with the Luxembourg Film Fund, will offer an EAVE Marketing Workshop scholarship worth €4,000 ($). Additionally, African Film Press (AFP), a regional publishing alliance covering the African film, television and digital media space, is joining as a partner to present the AFP Critics Prize, a $500 cash prize, testimony and ongoing editorial coverage of the recipient and their future work across AFP’s three founding publications: Akoroko, Cinema focusAnd what kept me.
Get a first look at the projects, producers and directors selected at Open Doors 2026 below.
2026 Open Doors Projects
Aseye Fiagbe from Ghana is directing and producing Lots of musica documentary portrait of Ghanaian keyboard prodigy Keke Gyan.
Mozambique and South Africa meet Chapa 100“, a surreal urban love story directed by Ike Langa, and his film Hey Profita It was screened in the Panther competition at the Rotterdam International Film Festival this year. The project is produced by Kulunga Filmes’ Lara Souza.
Nigerian director Ugochukwu Azuya and producer Olubunmi Ogunsola of Ensemble were in attendance I live on 6th“a sharp social satire about urban space and gentrification.”
From Somalia and Djibouti, director Mohamed Sheikh and producer Qadir Harbi Hassan of Aleel Films bring the imaginative project to life. Accept my plea for burial (Barrio As Ija Godon) to Locarno. It explores the tensions between tradition and justice in a rural community.
Cooperation between Tanzania and Kenya will also be showcased in Switzerland. Owners of capricious flowersan experimental documentary that weaves together themes of femininity and motherhood, directed by Nyima Ngelemi and produced by Ivy Kyro of AQ Pictures (LBx Africa), who also participated in the project’s La Fabrique Cinéma 2026 Cannes Film Festival program. Strong winds.
Last but not least, Locarno will host the Ugandan Narrative Project Vineyard for lobsterdirected by Talimwa Pius and produced by Gashumba Emmanuel of Gripmagic Uganda Limited. The film uses the snow-covered landscape as a symbol of the ever-present shadows of colonialism.
Open Doors Producers
Mamonata Nikima of Pilumpiku Production is from Burkina Faso and a veteran of the continent’s film industry, having been knighted at the 2021 edition of FESPACO, the African Film and Television Festival in Ouagadougou, the largest and oldest film festival in Africa, for her contributions to cinema.
Natasha Cravero of Cabo Verde produced the film in collaboration with her company Korikaxoru Films Umi Nobuwhich appeared at the Open Doors shows at Locarno 2025.
Adja Meriem Maher Soro from Ivory Coast leads Studio Ka, an animation studio she founded in Abidjan.
Nigerian producer David Ekita of Vox Cinematic Films has worked across the border and co-produced a Kazakh-Nigerian feature film. Adam Paul (2024), and he is currently developing a new project with an Egyptian director.
Roaa Osman from Sudan and her film Helomore has gained extensive production experience, with her CV including festival favorites such as You will die at twenty (Venice, 2019) and Goodbye Julia (Cannes, 2023).
Zimbabwe is represented by Tapiwa Chipfupa of Ambidextrous Pictures. An EAVE graduate recently launched an international training and mentorship programme, the Audiovisual Entrepreneurship Lab (AVEL).
Managers open doors
Fagamo Fama Ndiaye (Senegal)
Reddit Hades Yaliu (Ethiopia)
Bocas Pascual (Angola)
Judith Nene Kipingi (Kenya)
Ariel Anez (Mozambique)
