The Biennale College Cinema, Venice, has announced 1 Woman 1 Bra, a project by director Vincho Nchogu from Kenya and Josh Olaoluwa from Nigeria, as one of 12 projects its 2024/25 edition. The selections were made from 277 submitted projects.
According to the organisers, the selected teams, comprising a director and producer, will participate in a 10-day workshop from October 8 to 17. The announcement was made early last month.
What is the Biennale College Cinema
Biennale College Cinema is an “advanced training laboratory open to filmmakers from all over the world for the production of low-budget films.” It is organised by La Biennale di Venezia, supported by the Ministry of Culture – General Directorate Cinema, and collaborates with the Gotham Film & Media Institute and TorinoFilmLab.
Following the workshop, “four of these twelve projects (including one from the Italy section and at least two by female directors)” will be selected to receive funding support of up to €200,000. The final four will also be “presented” at the 2025 Venice Film Festival.
With minimal details revealed about 1 Woman, 1 Bra, Kenyan director Vincho Nchogu and Nigerian producer Josh Olaoluwa’s selection marks another milestone, having previously participated in the Red Sea Lodge and Torino Film Lab. Their project, 1 Woman 1 Bra, will vie for recognition alongside other international submissions, including Last Time, Again by Chinese director Di Zhang and Canadian producer Beryl Liu; Orange Peel by Italian director Anita Rivaroli and producer Marco Mingolla; Saving The Day by Turkish director Serhat Karaaslan and French producer Laura Dahout; and Becoming Human by Cambodian director Polen Ly and produced by Daniel Mattes from the US.
Other selected projects include Secret Of A Mountain Serpent from India; The Booking from the United States; The Family, a Ukraine-Iran collaboration; Vanishing Bones from France; Summer 1999 from Vietnam; Agnus Dei from Italy; and Badland also from Italy.
Africa At the Biennale College Cinema
In the past, Africa has had a presence in Biennale College Cinema, with some of the African projects to have participated including Lesotho’s This is not a Burial, It’s a Resurrection and Ghana’s The Fisherman.
Biography: Josh Olaoluwa and Vincho Nchogu
Josh Olaoluwa is a Nigerian filmmaker with a portfolio that has featured on platforms such as Netflix, MTV Base, Smithsonian Institute, and Amazon Prime Video. Olaoluwa served as producer for Ebonylife Studios’ Netflix series, Oloture 2. He spearheaded Grind, a limited series that debuted as Amazon Prime’s most-streamed show in Nigeria. His short film, Naked Woman, was selected by the Smithsonian Museum to commemorate Nigeria’s 62nd Independence.
Vincho Nchogu, a Kenyan film director and producer, has produced range of documentaries and TV shows, including Wonder Stove, a government-commissioned documentary, The Trail, backed by the European Union, and 3W, a travel series for Uganda Broadcasting Corporation. Her short film Resurrect gained international recognition at Cannes’ Cinema du Monde.
Nchogu also collaborated with Dutch filmmaker Robert Hof on the East and Central African segment of the Future Express documentary series.
