Filmmakers from selected countries around the world are invited to apply for funding from Visions Sud Est, a programme that supports film productions in countries with limited production capacity. The deadline for applications is set at February 28.
The Visions Sud Est is a Swiss fund that provides support to film productions from Asia, Africa, Latin America, and Eastern Europe.
The programme, which is open to African filmmakers from Nigeria, Angola, Burkina Faso, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sierra Leone, South Sudan, and a few other countries, provides financial support for production and post-production feature-length fiction and documentary films that are at least 70 minutes long.
To be eligible, the main producer must be established in one of the eligible countries, and the director must also be from one of these countries. Filming must take place mainly in eligible countries and in the local or regional language. Applicants must also have secured at least 30% of the budget before submitting their application.
At the production stage, support is granted based on documents that demonstrate the project’s feasibility, and filming must commence within 12 months of receiving the support. For post-production support, a first cut and post-production concept are required.
It is essential that projects are sufficiently advanced before submission, as only one application per category of support is permitted. Some of the African films to have received funding include Demba (Senegal), The Letter (Kenya), and Mami Wata (Nigeria).
Funding amounts
In terms of funding, fiction film projects may receive up to 50,000 Swiss francs for production or up to 20,000 Swiss francs for post-production. Documentary film projects may receive up to 20,000 Swiss francs for production or up to 10,000 Swiss francs for post-production.
Notably, projects that have received funding from other sources, such as the Open Doors Grant at the Locarno Film Festival or the Visions Sud Est Award at Visions du Réel, are not eligible for Visions Sud Est funding. Additionally, projects that have received support from a local The Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) office in the project’s country of origin are also ineligible.
Filmmakers are encouraged to apply for the programme through the application portal. The selection process takes approximately 16 weeks under a jury of five experts.
