The primary award of the Open Doorways initiative at this yr’s Locarno Movie Competition was shared by three tasks: Black Snake, directed by Naishe Nyamubaya (Zimbabwe); Kachifo, directed by Dika Ofoma; and Diary of a Goat Girl, directed by Azata Soro (Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso).
The award is historically a CHF 50,000 grant sponsored by visions sud est and the Metropolis of Bellinzona. Black Snake acquired CHF 25,000, Kachifo landed CHF 20,000, and Diary of a Goat Girl was handed CHF 5,000.
Kachifo additionally received the ARTEKino Worldwide Award, price € 6,000, and the Sørfond Award, which incorporates an invite to take part within the Sørfond pitching occasion in November. Les Bilokos (The Bilokos), directed by Erickey Bahati (DR Congo, France), received the € 8,000 CNC Improvement Grant.
The 4 prizes above had been chosen by the Open Doorways Initiatives Jury. The jury consisted of Madeline Robert (Supervisor, visions sud est), John Canciani (Creative Director, Internationale Kurzfilmtage Winterthur), Lucie Garnier (CNC Centre nationwide du cinéma et de l’picture animée, DEENTAL-ACP Programme Supervisor), Julie Savary (ARTE France, Head of Initiatives) and Ana-Marija Grøndahl (Movies from the South, Head of Manufacturing).
Scroll down for the complete listing of winners.
Winners Open Doorways 2025
Open Doorways Grant
A complete of CHF 50,000 sponsored by visions sud est (with the assist of the Swiss Company for Improvement and Cooperation), the Metropolis of Bellinzona and the Open Doorways initiative.
CHF 25,000 to Black Snake, directed by Naishe Nyamubaya, produced by Sue-Ellen Chitunya (Zimbabwe)
Jury assertion: “A charming story that explores identification, secrecy, and religious legacy by a delicate and highly effective inventive imaginative and prescient. Anchored in landscapes and a cultural world not often seen on display screen, and pushed by compelling characters, this undertaking holds immense promise. The jury is proud to honor this daring and singular work from Zimbabwe: ‘Black Snake’ by Naishe Nyamubaya”
CHF 20,000 to Kachifo (Until the Morning Comes), directed by Dika Ofoma, produced by Blessing Uzzi (Nigeria)
Jury assertion: “The award goes to a movie with an unique narrative construction, the place two layers are intently linked. By a parallel storyline, we step by step strategy the revelation of a connection that can unfold over time. We’re excited by the advanced and difficult strategy taken, which would require additional work to completely understand. We look ahead to seeing this movie about love on the massive display screen quickly.”
CHF 5,000 to Journal intime d’une femme chèvre (Diary of a Goat Girl), directed by Azata Soro, produced by Nameïta Lica Touré (Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso)
Jury assertion: “This highly effective and poetic undertaking confronts silence, custom, and trauma. By the journey of a girl who refuses submission, it offers voice to what’s typically left unsaid. The jury is proud to assist a deeply private reflection on transmission and resistance.”
CNC Improvement Grant
€ 8,000 for improvement supplied by CNC – Centre nationwide du cinéma et de l’picture animée
Les Bilokos (The Bilokos), directed by Erickey Bahati, produced by Giresse Kassonga (DR Congo, France)
Assertion: “By awarding the CNC grant to the documentary undertaking ‘Les Bilokos’, directed by Erickey Bahati, the jury goals to assist the event of a singular undertaking pushed by a robust narrative and human ambition. In a context the place representations of the battle within the DRC are uncommon, the movie provides a brand new perspective on this battle, shedding gentle on the resilience of former combatants who at the moment are rebuilding their lives in Goma, a metropolis nonetheless scarred and shaken by battle. The creative potential of the undertaking additionally lies within the director’s fixed concern to contemplate the moral points that his cinematic strategy might elevate and the way they could affect the route.”
ARTEKino Worldwide Award
€ 6,000 for improvement supplied by ARTEKino
Kachifo (Until the Morning Comes), directed by Dika Ofoma, produced by Blessing Uzzi (Nigeria)
Assertion: “The Arte Kino Worldwide Award goes to a daring and poetic first characteristic by a promising movie director: a plaidoyer for real love – the quintessential topic of cinema – throughout time and above all borders.”
Sørfond Award
Participation within the undertaking to the Sørfond pitching occasion in November together with journey and lodging.
Kachifo (Until the Morning Comes), directed by Dika Ofoma, produced by Blessing Uzzi (Nigeria)
Assertion: “‘Kachifo’ is a poetic, visually and narratively bold undertaking. It impresses us by the director’s passionate dedication to inform the story about timeless love that holds by lifetimes regardless of cultural and non secular opposition, as gay relationships are nonetheless taboo and broadly rejected in Nigeria.”
Tabakalera-San Sebastian Movie Competition Residency Award
A residency in Tabakalera and participating within the business actions of the San Sebastian Movie Competition, given in collaboration with the Worldwide Tradition Heart Tabakalera and San Sebastian Movie Competition.
Yannick Mizero Kabano (Imitana productions, Rwanda), participant Open Doorways Producers
Assertion: “For producing movie tasks rooted of their territory however with a common vocation; for fostering the creation of a nationwide movie business by mentoring and coaching applications; and for proposing full cycles of movie assist from creation to exhibition, the award goes to Yannick Mizero Kabano.”
MECAS Award
Participation within the Worldwide Marketplace for Virtually-Completed Movies (MECAS), with the chance for personalised conferences and networking, together with journey and lodging prices. The subsequent version of MECAS will happen in Gran Canaria in April 2026.
June Wairegi (Giza Visuals, Kenia)
Assertion: “Our chosen producer is growing a line of impartial tasks that we discover brave and provoking. She conveys creativity, sense of initiative and a imaginative and prescient that connects with us. We hope that June Wairegi finds in MECAS an exquisite and helpful house.”
Open Doorways – OIF – ACP – EU Award
A improvement grant for the worth of two’500 Euros.
Yannick Mizero Kabano (Imitana productions, Rwanda), participant Open Doorways Producers
Assertion: “The prize is for a manufacturing firm dealt with by a dynamic and proficient new technology of Rwandan producers: Imitana productions represented at the moment in Open Doorways by Yannick Mizero Kabano”
Rotterdam Lab Award
Supplied by the Worldwide Movie Competition Rotterdam (IFFR). One of many Open Doorways Producers contributors is obtainable the chance to participate within the subsequent Rotterdam Lab, together with lodging lined by the Worldwide Movie Competition Rotterdam together with a contribution to the journey’s prices by the Locarno Movie Competition.
Kamy Lara (Uika Filmes, Angola)
Assertion: “With a profession that spans documentaries, business movies, and her personal work as a director, Kamy Lara brings a uncommon mixture of inventive imaginative and prescient and manufacturing experience to this new cohort. Her dedication for constructing bridges by worldwide co-productions and championing feminine filmmakers in Angola and past makes her an inspiring alternative for subsequent yr’s lab in Rotterdam.”
Open Doorways – World Cinema Fund Viewers Technique Award
The award supplied by World Cinema Fund provides a selected program tailor-made and geared to intently observe the event of an viewers engagement technique.
Kamy Lara (Uika Filmes, Angola)
Assertion: “We had been struck by Kamy Lara’s creative and socio-cultural pursuits, and her need to handle advanced points, notably these regarding a society in flux. Kamy Lara’s work demonstrates her ambition to rework these points into genuine cinema.”
