DADA is a small production company that also runs film workshops. DADA has called for applications from East African residents 18 years and over who will be asked to submit a story for filming. The workshop will take place between the 7TH August – 20th August, 2006. The application forms and guidelines can be picked up from Alliance Francaise in Nairobi, Kenya, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania and Kampala, Uganda.

From London, where he is finishing post-production on his latest film the South African shot CATCH-A-FIRE starring Tim Robbins, Noyce commented:

"Over 2 weeks, I hope to take 28 East Africans through an intensive, hands-on exploration of taking an idea from conception to screening in front of an audience. Kenya has such a rich history and vivid contemporary stories that could provide the basis for a successful Film Industry. Hopefully this workshop will help foster some of the filmmakers who will become the future of an East African cinema. The workshop will try to explore the use of digital technology to enable vital, relevant and entertaining films to be made on affordable budgets."

DADA co-founder and UCLA film Directing graduate, Wanuri Kahiu said: "Dada is in the business of celebrating culture through storytelling. We seek to enable Africans to tell their own stories despite economic barriers by equipping African Filmmakers with the skill and techniques that allow them to take advantage of the technological gap. With Filmmaking breakthroughs such as the advent of digital video and software like Final Cut Pro, Dada provides a foundation that allows the vibrant creativity of East Africans to come alive and compete on a global scale."

Applicants are asked to provide a brief description of their lives, their aspirations and what they would hope to achieve at the workshop. Applicants should also submit a potential project for filming that should be drawn from an existing novel or short story, real life or the writer’s imagination. The stories can be submitted in their original format as story proposals or outlines or as completed film scripts. The stories should be limited to 4 characters and take place in no more than 5 locations. Each story should involve a meeting, a chase, a confrontation and a resolution in any way the applicant interprets. The story should be no more than 5-typed pages long with an anticipated running time of about 5 minutes maximum.

Places are restricted to 18 participants who will be working on the production of three final scripts and a further 10 places for professional and amateur actors.

For further information please contact Wangari on +(254) 725 335 509 or Lorna on + (254) 722 773 157 or dadainfo@gmail.com.

More about Phillp Noyce.