African writers chosen for AuthenticA lab

The AuthenticA Series Lab, a development initiative based in South Africa and offered by the Realness Institute, has chosen four African screenwriters for its second edition.

The four are Senegalese scribe Tiah Beye, Kenyan writer and chair of the Kenya Scriptwriters Guild Wanjiru Kairu, Botswana’s Moreetsi Gabang and Cape Town’s Kelly-Eve Koopman.

The participants will begin their six-month mentorship journey on September 19 under script consultant Selina Ukwuoma and creative producer Mehret Mandefro, and will participate in both online sessions and in-person residencies in South Africa and Switzerland.

The Series Lab programme will conclude with a pitching session at the Series Mania Forum in Lille, France in March 2024. At the event, the participants will create a concept story pitch deck and a pilot script to present to attendees.

Mandefro said: “Providing African writers the support, time and space they need to do their best work is an important intervention in the media landscape. I look forward to working with this new cohort and their stories.”

“AuthenticA Series Lab pitches in 2023 were a great success and demonstrated the interest of the international industry in projects coming from Africa. We are delighted to be renewing our partnership with the Realness Institute for a second edition. The new cohort is of high quality and I am sure the projects will find partners in Lille,” said Laurence Herszberg, general director of Series Mania.