Locarno Open Doors has unveiled its list of winners for the 2026 edition, reaffirming its commitment as a co-production platform and talent development programme for filmmakers from equity-seeking communities and regions where artistic expression is threatened.
By Adedamola Jones Adedayo
Locarno Open Doors has unveiled its list of winners for the 2026 edition, reaffirming its commitment as a co-production platform and talent development programme for filmmakers from equity-seeking communities and regions where artistic expression is threatened.
For this year, the Open Door Grant, with a total value of CHF 50,000, sponsored by visions sud est (supported by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation SDC), was divided among three projects: A Vineyard For A Lobster, directed by Talemwa Pius and produced by Emmanuel Gashumba (Gripmagic Uganda Limited) (Uganda, CHF 20,000); Accept My Plea for Burial, directed by Mohammed Sheikh and produced by Kadir Harbi (Aleel Films) (Somalia/Djibouti, CHF 20,000); and Too Much Music, directed and produced by Aseye Fiagbe (Aseye Fiagbe Creative Studio) (Ghana, CHF 10,000).
Similarly, Chapa 100, directed by Ique Langa and produced by Lara Sousa of Kulunga Filmes (Mozambique), won the CNC Development Grant, worth €8,000. Meanwhile, The Ones With the Tempered Flowers, directed by Neema Ngelime and produced by Ivy Kiru of LBx Africa (Tanzania/Kenya), received two awards: the ARTEKino International Award, worth €6,000, and the Sørfond Award, which grants the project participation in the Sørfond pitching event in November.
Burkinabé film producer Mamounata Nikiéma of Pilumpiku Production will receive a €4,000 scholarship, supported by the European Audiovisual Entrepreneurs (EAVE) and the Film Fund Luxembourg, to participate in the EAVE Marketing Workshop.
I Live in V.I., directed by Ugochukwu Azuya and produced by Olubunmi Ogunsola (E inNSEMBLE) (Nigeria), received the Tabakalera-San Sebastian Film Festival Residency Award, a prize consisting of a residency in Tabakalera and part of the industry activities of the San Sebastian Film Festival, offered in collaboration with the International Culture Centre Tabakalera and San Sebastian Film Festival.
Additional accolades emerged from this year’s Open Doors, with Ivorian screenwriter and producer Adja Mariam Mahre Soro (Studio KÄ) set to participate in Rotterdam Lab in January 2027, while Angolan director Pocas Pascoal’s SARAH earned a consultancy prize for a feature directed by a national of an Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie (OIF) member state and associated with a production company from one of the member states.
Completing this list of winners is Submergido, directed and co-produced by Ariel Añez (Maochas Filmes), and produced by Joseph Mata (Mozambique), which won the AFP Critics Prize, presented by African Film Press (AFP) LLC, a cross-regional media and journalism alliance covering African cinema, television and screen activity. Decided by a three-member jury of film critics comprising Kelvin Kariuki (Kenya), Vivian Nneka Nwajiaku (Nigeria) and Jeffrey Ini-Abasi (Nigeria), the prize comes with a $500 cash award, a certificate, and continued editorial coverage of the winner’s work across AFP’s founding publications: Akoroko, Sinema Focus, and What Kept Me Up.