Kenya has secured three of the 36 official project slots at the 17th Durban FilmMart (DFM) Pitch and Finance Forum, the continent's flagship film-finance and co-production market — set for 9–12 October 2026 in Durban, South Africa. The selection, announced on 15 May 2026 by the Durban FilmMart Institute (DFMI), places Kenya as the most-represented East African market in this year's cohort, alongside North African heavyweights Egypt and Morocco and a 14-project South African contingent.
The three Kenyan projects
1. Fisi (Hyena) — Fiction Series
- Producer: Mkamzee Mwatela
- Director: Sanele Zulu
- Track: Fiction Series (one of 6 series titles selected continent-wide)
Mwatela is one of Kenya's most prolific television producers (Pete, Single Kiasi, Salem), and Fisi leans into the high-tension prestige-drama register that Kenyan streamers and broadcasters have been hungry for since the breakthrough of Volume and Kash Money on Netflix. Director Sanele Zulu brings a South African TV pedigree, signalling a deliberate cross-border crew structure that DFM tends to reward.
2. capoZOOeira — Animated Series (Kenya / Brazil)
- Producers: Mary Waweru Wanjiku, Carlos Zerpa Bravo
- Director: Orlymar Paredes
- Track: Animated Series – Fiction (one of 6 animated series titles)
The only Kenyan animation project in the official selection and one of just two East African animation titles. The Kenya–Brazil co-production structure is notable: it positions capoZOOeira for both the African and Latin American animation markets, and Wanjiku will receive additional mentorship through the Digital Lab Africa (DLA) programme delivered by DFM partner Tshimologong Digital Innovation Precinct in Johannesburg.
3. Majuto si Mjukuu (Heirs of No Regret) — Documentary Feature
- Producer: Mumo Liku
- Director: Saitabao Kaiyare
- Track: Documentary Features (one of 11 documentary titles selected)
Liku is a known name on the East African documentary circuit, and pairing with Maasai filmmaker Saitabao Kaiyare gives the project a distinct cultural-specificity angle. Documentary remains the strongest international-financing track at DFM, where European public-broadcaster commissioning editors are typically the dominant buyer cohort.
Why Durban FilmMart matters
DFM is the largest film-finance event in Africa and the single most important deal-making moment in the continental calendar outside of the Marché du Film at Cannes. The 17th edition will feature:
- 36 projects in development across 7 strands: animation series, animation shorts, animated features, fiction features, fiction series, documentary series, documentary features
- 8 animation, 10 fiction features, 10 documentary features and 7 series in total
- One-on-one online mentorship with industry experts before the in-person pitch, to ensure projects are "collaborator- and investor-ready"
- Digital Lab Africa support for all 8 animation projects via the Tshimologong Precinct
- A robust industry programme addressing current trends, innovations and challenges in African production
Quote — Magdalene Reddy, Director, Durban FilmMart Institute: "Our stories are our voices; they represent our culture, our history, our joy, our pain and our victories. DFM is honoured to present a unique selection of African stories… The DFM provides an important platform, not only to showcase the creative work of filmmakers but also to support them in building a cross-continental community, creating networks and access."
How the 2026 selection breaks down
The 36-project cohort skews heavily toward Southern Africa, but the continental spread is the broadest in several years:
- South Africa: ~14 projects (incl. Beast Seeker, Nerve, Midnight Metro, Fairway to Freedom (dir. Jahmil Qubeka), Mieta, Daddies, Fafi, The Coven, Smoke & Mirrors, Designing Divide, Gwijo Nation, Urban Zulu: The Busi Mhlongo Story, Waiting for Evolution, Mdantsane – Home of Boxing)
- Kenya: 3 projects
- Egypt: 3 projects (incl. In Her Hands, Under Green Skies, Green Island's Girls)
- Nigeria: 3 projects (incl. Hadu: The Series, Juju Soccer from C.J. Obasi, The Boy Who Spoke Static from The Agbajowo Collective)
- Sudan: 2 (incl. Four Months and Ten Days, Where Do I Belong?)
- Morocco: 1 (Holy Cow by Asmae el Moudir, selected through the El Gouna 2025 partnership)
- Ethiopia, Tunisia, Rwanda, DRC, Uganda, Tanzania, Algeria/France, Burkina Faso: 1 each
Two projects — Waslap (South Africa) and The Coven (South Africa) and Mdantsane – Home of Boxing — entered via DFM ACCESS, the institute's pathway for emerging and under-represented voices.
Why this matters for Kenya
This is the strongest Kenyan showing at DFM in several years and arrives at a moment when the local industry is being reshaped by three converging forces:
- Streamer commissioning. Netflix's Volume, Kash Money and Sayari have demonstrated demand for Kenyan-originated premium series; Fisi slots directly into that pipeline.
- Animation push. capoZOOeira is one of a small but growing cluster of Kenyan animation projects (alongside work from Lupita Nyong'o's Mau Mau-era animated feature and the FilmAfrica/Cinemawave initiatives) signalling that Nairobi is emerging as an East African animation hub.
- Documentary co-financing. Majuto si Mjukuu gives Kenya a third documentary on the international co-production circuit in 2026, building on the run of titles since Softie (2020).
For producers and crew on FRA's directory, DFM is also where international service deals, line-producer engagements, and post-production co-pro structures get put in motion. The Kenyan trio's presence increases the likelihood of shoulder events, masterclasses and side meetings with a Kenya focus in Durban in October.
Key dates
- 15 May 2026 — Project selection announced
- Pre-event — Online one-on-one mentorship for all 36 projects
- 9–12 October 2026 — 17th Durban FilmMart, Durban, South Africa
- Open call cycle — Next round of applications expected to open late 2026 (last cycle deadline was 1 February 2026 for live action)
Sources
Source: sinemafocus.com