The EFM Announces 2027 Cohort for Toolbox Distribution Academy

The European Film Market (EFM) has announced the 2027 cohort of its Toolbox Distribution Academy, a three-year training and networking programme designed to empower a new generation of film distributors across Africa. The following film professionals are participating in the Toolbox Distribution Academy 2027: Zambian Emmanuel Mwape, Kenyan Dancurf Brown, Gloria Nkatha, and Michele Abuti, Tanzanian Habibu Diliwa, Ethiopian Hiwot Muluneh Sugebo and Mihiret Worede Woldeeyesus, Ugandan  Ivan Tusabe, and Ghanaian Najilau Dramundu Atta Abdul Karim. 

In 2025, the EFM Toolbox Distribution Academy was launched as a joint initiative designed together with leading industry professionals Torsten Frehse and Fabian Massah, by building on their 2024 pilot project the African-European Distribution Academy (AEDA). The idea is to mutually share expertise in global film distribution and create a comprehensive framework that supports the dissemination of diverse films. Collaborating with established European distributors, the academy expands the successful EFM Toolbox Producers Programme, which will continue to offer training and market intelligence to German and international film producers from underrepresented groups facing structural inequities. Thus, the EFM Toolbox Distribution Academy will contribute to equip selected participants with an ambitious skillset and network needed to create sustainable careers in film distribution in Africa. Fabian Massah, Torsten Frehse and newly appointed Toolbox Programme Head Sata Cissokho will co-curate the programme together, which will in future operate under the umbrella of the European Film Market (EFM).

The selected participants will be trained through a five-week residency in Europe culminating in participation in the Berlinale’s EFM. Over the course of over in-depth and hands-on workshops, these African professionals will receive advanced training and mentoring from experienced European distributors, sales agents, and industry experts in key aspects of film distribution, including marketing, audience building, legal and business affairs but also the smart use of innovative technologies, to succeed in a changing global market environment. The trainees will participate in several B2B events, including the international Film Distribution Summit IFDS during Filmfest Hamburg and DOK Leipzig in the first year with potentially other events in the second year.

For the selected cohort and the African film landscape, the programme, in practice, means building a self-sustaining infrastructure and wider audience reach for African films, while also enhancing circulation of European content in Africa — training distributors who can then acquire, market, and keep African films in cinemas, festivals and streaming locally, instead of relying on ad-hoc or foreign-led distribution. 

For decades, African filmmakers and films have struggled with exhibition and distribution. It has also faced structural constraints in building a pan-African audience for itself. African films screen globally but aren’t available to watch on the continent. There has been targeted initiative willing to solve this. For instance, Screen Connect, Video Bet, Kenyan Night, and others have positioned itself as a space for exhibition and distribution of African films. The EFM initiative is a structured space to provide learning for Africa professionals invested in distributing and exhibiting African and European films.