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It’s been a seriously tough year for the South African arts, culture, and entertainment scene.

Just this week, the iconic Fugard Theatre in Cape Town announced it was closing its doors, with the devastation wrought by COVID-19 shutting down the city’s premier independent theatre.

Some good news for the local scene wouldn’t go amiss, so let’s focus on the announcement earlier this week that the National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF), an agency of the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture, has partnered with Netflix to the tune of R28 million.

Half of that will come from the NFVF, and half from the streaming giant, with the money used to fund six ‘micro-budget’ films to boost recovery for South Africa’s creative industry.

All six of those films will debut on Netflix.

More from the NVFV press release:

The partnership will see 6 local films funded, categorised into 2 streams: 4 feature films with a budget of R4 million each and two feature films with a budget of R6 million each…

Image: Twitter / @nfvfsa

“We are excited as the NFVF to be partnering with Netflix and appreciate their investment into local content. The incorporation of digital platforms into our traditional processes can only benefit the industry further. We hope this is simply the start in what will no doubt be a long and fruitful relationship,” comments NFVF CEO, Makhosazana Khanyile.

Here’s Netflix’s Director of Content in Africa, Ben Amadasun:

“The past year has been incredibly difficult with the pandemic hitting so many industries around the world. The creative community, that we are a part of, has supported us through the good times so we want to help them continue to create the stories our members love through the $1 million Covid Relief Fund contribution we started last year in collaboration with SASFED and IPO to help below-the-line workers in South Africa’s creative industry and now, we’re excited to take this a step further with this joint fund with NFVF for above-the-line talent.”

The obvious next question is how filmmakers can go about securing that money.

You have until April 1 to sharpen your pitch, when the submission portal will go live.

The NFVF also says it encourages “all filmmakers in accordance with the eligibility criteria to apply by visiting https://nfvf.praxisgms.co.za/ from April 1, adding that “more details will be available at www.nfvf.co.za or @nfvfsa [Twitter here, Instagram here] on all social media platforms”.

Get that funding, and make the magic happen.

[source:nfvf]