The Open Doors Grant of CHF 50,000 was divided among three projects from Zimbabwe, Nigeria, Burkina Faso, and Ivory Coast, with additional awards to filmmakers from Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, Angola, and Kenya.
By Vivian Nneka Nwajiaku
The winners of the 2025 edition of the Locarno Film Festival’s Open Doors program were announced at the program’s conclusion on August 12, 2025. This year, the Open Doors Grant of CHF 50,000 was divided among three projects from Zimbabwe, Nigeria, Burkina Faso, and Ivory Coast, with additional awards to filmmakers from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, Angola, and Kenya.
The largest portion of the Open Doors Grant, a cash prize of CHF 25,000, was awarded to Black Snake, a Zimbabwean supernatural mystery by Zimbabwean-Egyptian director, Naishe Nyamubaya, and Zimbabwean-American producer, Sue-Ellen Chitunya. Nigerian reincarnation romance, Kachifo (Till The Morning Comes), by director, Dika Ofoma and produced by Blessing Uzzi, won a grant of CHF 20,000, while Diary of a Goat Woman (Journal Intime d’une Femme-Chèvre), a documentary-animation hybrid by Ivorian and Burkinabé director, Azata Soro and producer Nameita Lica Toure, received CHF 5,000.
Dika Ofoma’s Kachifo was the biggest winner, also scoring two additional awards: the ARTEKino International Award valued at €6,000; and the Sørfond Award, securing the Nigerian filmmaker an invitation to the Sørfond pitching event in November, including travel and accommodation.
Congolese veteran documentary, Les Bilokos (The Bilokos), directed by Erickey Bahati and produced by Giresse Kassonga, did not go empty-handed, receiving the €8,000 CNC Development Grant.
Participants in the Locarno Open Doors Producers program have also bagged awards at the Festival. Rwandan producer, Yannick Mizero Kabano, won the Open Doors – OIF – ACP – EU Award (worth €2,500) and the Tabakalera-San Sebastian Film Festival Residency Award; Angolan producer, Kamy Lara, took home both the Rotterdam Lab Award and the Open Doors – World Cinema Fund Audience Strategy Award; and Kenya’s June Wairegi, received an award from MECAS, the International Market for Almost-Finished Films.
Open Doors is Locarno Film Festival’s co-production and talent development program targeted at filmmakers from under-represented communities and regions in which cinema as a form of expression is at risk, with the 2025 to 2028 editions focused on the African continent. Afrocritik previously reported on the African films and filmmakers selected for this year’s Open Doors program and the non-competitive Open Doors Screenings.
The Locarno Film Festival is still ongoing and will conclude on August 16, 2025. The Open Doors Screening will continue until August 15, 2025, while the Festival’s Independent Juries Award Ceremony will take place on August 16, 2025.