The Kenyan project Fight For Food, produced by Jim Chuchu and Benjamin Muasya for Rada Studios Ltd (Kenya) and directed by Maia von Lekow, Christopher King and Zippy Kimundu, has won the Sunny Side of the Doc #GlobalPitch23! Award which comes with a cash prize of €3,000 plus two full passes for Sunny Side of the Doc 2023. The Global Pitch took place online 7 and 8 February.
The logline of Fight For Food reads: “A closer look at the farmers, scientists and cultural activists fighting to preserve Kenya’s agriculture and food cultures – and the forces working to take control of the country’s food systems.”
The jury was composed of Khadidja Banouataf (Impact Social Club), Keisha Knight (IDA), Cleo Veger (Dogwoof) and Julian Etienne (Doc Society). The jury citation reads: “We were impressed by the breadth of the pitches this year and were particularly moved by projects that center the experiences of those in the Global South from their own perspectives. We are very happy to award Fight for Food the prize of 3,000 EUR in this year’s Global Pitch.
“We were impressed by the team and their approach shown through the materials. With the consequences of climate change and privatization affecting day to day Global South communities, Fight for Food shows how Kenyan farmers are adapting to extreme weather, unpredictable climate patterns, and extractive foreign influence. We believe that the film can be an inspiration for other community based approaches for climate justice.”
Mathieu Béjot, Director of Strategy and Development at Sunny Side of the Doc, added: “We are delighted that the jury picked an ambitious topical project from Kenya. It is important to hear stories coming from the Global South which is particularly affected by Climate Change. The award also comforts our proactive approach to including new voices and new talents in the international documentary community, particularly those from under-represented groups and countries. Awarding a series is also an illustration of the diversity of formats and storytelling of the documentary genre.”
Sponsored by AJB DOC, Al Jazeera Documentary Channel and WaterBear Network, the online pitching event aimed at “facilitating the international financing and co-production of projects focused on Climate Change consequences on our societies and concrete solutions implemented around the world,” write organisers.
The 12 pitch projects were selected from 100 submissions from 37 countries, and were presented to a panel of high-level decision-makers in pre-recorded video pitches followed by live Q&A sessions.
The online event gathered 220+ industry professionals of 190+ companies from 40+ countries. Project personnel took part in two Meet the Executives sessions with the event sponsors, as well as four Industry Catch-ups with expert guests from Generation Africa, Doc Society, The StoryBoard Collective and The Whickers.
“The quality of the projects and the richness of the exchanges anchor the Global Pitch even more as a highlight of the international documentary industry and brilliantly kick off the June market in La Rochelle,” write organisers.The next edition of Sunny Side of the Doc runs June 19-22, 2023 in La Rochelle, France. The ppening date for submissions & accreditations is Thursday, March 16. The closing date for submissions is Thursday, April 6 (11pm GMT).
