MultiChoice Africa announced yesterday that the final participants for the MultiChoice Talent Factory (MTF) Academy class of 2019 have been chosen.
After a two-month rigorous selection process across 13 African countries, 60 aspiring film-makers representing East Africa, Southern Africa and West Africa will begin their 12-month training programme at the MTF academies in Nairobi, Lusaka and Lagos in October.
The three Namibians selected are Riejhaat Wolhuter, Humbuhumbu ‘Shona’ Ngava and Hilma Sheehama.
The candidates underwent an interview and adjudication process by film and television experts as well as regional Academy directors Njoki Muhoho (East Africa), Berry Lwando (Southern Africa) and Femi Odugbemi (West Africa).
The MTF was launched in May 2018 as part of MultiChoice Africa’s ground-breaking corporate shared value initiative. The MTF Academy is a year-long fully-funded training programme aimed at upskilling the next generation of passionate young film creatives.
As the first touchpoint of the shared-value initiative, the academy’s curriculum was tailored alongside MultiChoice Africa partner institutions Pan-Atlantic University in Lekki, Nigeria; Kenyatta University in Nairobi, and the University of Zambia in Lusaka, which will respectively confer the course qualification upon completion of the programme. In addition, the Henley Business School offers an orientation intervention to the students at the beginning and end of the programme.
The appetite for training opportunities across Africa is massive within the creative film and TV industry, according to MTF director Cheryl Uys-Allie. “As one of the few industry players that not only tells African stories, but also invests in them, the need for a dynamic training programme such as the MTF Academy has been a long time coming. As MultiChoice Africa, we always ask ourselves: What’s next in the industry, and how can we better prepare for it? The MTF Academy was the answer to that question by giving young Africans the chance to hone their television and film production skills,” she said.
The class of 2019 is hot on the heels of the inaugural class of 2018 who are ready to graduate and have their first films screened on M-Net channels and Showmax. This year’s class will reap the additional rewards of new partnerships between the MTF Academy and Jasco Broadcast Solutions as well as Nihilent with its connection to Bollywood, as well as existing partnerships with the New York Film Academy College of Visual and Performing Arts, Dolby Institute and Universal Music Nigeria. – MultiChoice Namibia
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