Berlin’s EFM Launches Training Programme For African Distributors

Berlin film festival’s European Film Market (EFM) has launched EFM Toolbox Distribution Academy, a three-year training and networking programme designed to empower a new generation of film distributors across Africa.
 
Through collaborating with the European film industry, the programme aims to build a self-sustaining distribution infrastructure in Africa and create wider audience reach for African films, while also enhancing the circulation and visibility of European content in Africa.
 
EFM Toolbox Distribution Academy is a joint initiative designed by industry veterans Torsten Frehse and Fabian Massah, following their pilot project AEDA (the African-European Distribution Academy).
 
Frehse and Massah will co-curate the programme with Sata Cissokho, who was recently appointed head of the Berlinale’s Toolbox Programme and World Cinema Fund.
 
Seven participants have been selected for Toolbox Distribution Academy 2026: Eden Tigabu (Ethiopa); Ivy Wangui Muiruri (Kenya); Julie Nguyo (Kenya); Kelvin Osoo (Kenya); Inès Girihirwe (Rwanda); Everbright Everready (Tanzania) and Semulema Daniel (Uganda).
 
The iniative will train selected participants annually through a five-week residency in Europe culminating in participation in the Berlinale’s EFM. They will receive advanced mentoring from experienced European distributors, sales agents and industry experts in key aspects of film distribution, including marketing, audience building, legal and business affairs and smart use of innovative technologies.
 
“While significant resources and initiatives are already dedicated to the production of films in the Global South – often as co-productions with European partners – there remains a critical lack of continuous distribution infrastructures in many African markets,” said Sata Cissokho.
 
“This gap limits local audiences’ access to stories that reflect their own realities, and reduces the potential for European films to find new audiences in Africa. More than a one-size-fits-all approach, our ambition with the Toolbox Distribution Academy is to provide the participants with result-oriented practical tools and share knowledge that they will then be able to adapt to their local realities.”
 
The initiative is supported through the Creative Europe Media 360° funding scheme, as well as through Medienboard Berlin Brandenburg, MOIN Filmförderung Hamburg, Neue Visionen Filmverleih, GIZ – German Agency for International Cooperation, FilmfestHamburg, European Work in Progress (EWIP), DOK Leipzig and the Goethe Institute Addis Ababa.