Africa First Announces 2012 Five Filmmakers

Five filmmakers have been selected for the fifth year of Focus Features' Africa First Program. Each will receive $10,000 apiece as well as the opportunity to attend a summit in New York City with other filmmakers and Africa First's remarkable team of mentors.

The winning filmmakers for 2012 are Mr. Vincent Moloi (from South Africa); Mr. Jeremiah Mosese (from Lesotho); Ms. Ekwa Msangi-Omari (from Tanzania); Ms. Samantha Nell (from South Africa); and Mr. William Nicholson (from South Africa).

Vincent Moloi's project is Berea Berea, about an aging Jewish man in modern Johannesburg. Jeremiah Mosese's Mosongoa [The Mocked One] follows a teenage girl entering a stick-fighting competition to save her family farm. Ekwa Msangi-Omari's Soko [The Market] centers around a father/daughter outing to a Kenyan market that takes unexpected turns. Samantha Nell's One Way Ticket revolves around a neurotic undertaker and a misplaced corpse. And William Nicholson's The Second Law charts the mutually strengthening bond between a schoolgirl and her grandmother.

Focus Features CEO James Schamus commented, "This year we have a dynamic group of filmmakers who will be telling stories that span genres and generations. Everyone at Focus is excited to be collaborating with them." Producer Kisha Cameron Dingle, who serves as Program Director of Africa First, added, "Africa continues to be a region rich with filmmaking potential, and the talented men and women we have selected this year embody it."