The call for the 5th edition of the Authentica Series Lab is now open!
AuthenticA Series Lab is a unique six-month programme for African episodic screenwriters to develop their original stories, of all genres, in episodic form. The outcome of the programme is that each participant will deliver a pitch deck and a pilot episode script. The rights of the material developed through the programme will remain with each writer.
AuthenticA is presented in partnership with the Realness Institute, a South Africa based non-profit organisation, which aims to empower Africans to tell their stories from an unapologetically African point of view; and with the support of Series Mania Forum and Canada Media Fund.
This six-month programme comprises a combination of online and in-person sessions:
- Residency in Ethiopia – 17 to 25 September 2026
- Work from home with weekly online meetings – 25 September to 12 December 2026
- Break – 15 December 2026 to 2 January 2027
- Work from home with weekly online meetings – 5 to 14 January 2027
- Residency in Switzerland – 19 January to 19 March 2027
- Pitch at Series Mania – March 2027
On their story development journey, they are accompanied by Selina Ukwuoma (Director of Writing Programmes), Dr. Mehret Mandefro (Director of Producing and Showrunning), Thandeka Zwana (Creative Producer), and Mmabatho Kau (Story Expert).
DIRECTOR OF WRITING PROGRAMMES
Selina Ukwuoma is an accomplished freelance script consultant. She began her career at literary agency Curtis Brown working on theatre, film and television projects. She has since gone on to advise on award-winning indies as well as consulting for production companies and designing and running development initiatives such as Realness Screenwriters’ Residency and the Film Prize of the Robert Bosch Foundation. Selina teaches screenwriting at the UK’s National Film and Television School and regularly mentors and leads workshops at film festivals.
DIRECTOR OF PRODUCING AND SHOWRUNNING
Dr. Mehret Mandefro draws on her interdisciplinary training as a physician and anthropologist to create compelling narratives she calls "visual medicine." She co-founded the independent media production companies Truth Aid in New York and Area 51 Films in Ethiopia, and was most recently the Executive Producer of Ethiopia’s largest general entertainment channel Kana Television. Mehret also coordinates Ethiopia Creates, a multidisciplinary effort dedicated to strengthening Ethiopia's creative economy, and is co-founder of Realness Institute, which aims to build the film and television industry across Africa.
CREATIVE PRODUCER
Thandeka Zwana is a story consultant and script doctor whose passion and expertise have led her to work across local and international film circles. With experience as a script editor for organizations such as the NFVF, KZN Film Authority, and Realness Institute, she has shaped narratives and fostered emerging talent to elevate African storytelling globally. She currently curates African content for the Festival de Cine Africano y de la Diáspora Africana in Costa Rica and works with Indigenous Film Distribution in Johannesburg, championing filmmakers and cross-border collaboration
STORY EXPERT
Mmabatho Kau, a South African media professional with a Master’s in Media Management, has over two decades’ experience shaping stories for film and television. As a producer and script consultant, she has worked on international titles and now mentors emerging writers worldwide through programs including Netflix’s Grow Creative Accelerator Lab, Berlinale Script Station, and Realness Institute.
FUNDING
Each participant receives a monthly stipend of 1000 EUR for the duration of the programme. This is to help cover living expenses as they focus on developing their concept while being mentored. All travel and accommodation for the South African, Swiss and Series Mania legs of the programme will be covered by AuthenticA. Selected participants shall arrange and cover the costs of their visas and travel insurance.
ELIGIBILITY
- Open to all African nationals
- Age requirement: 21+
- Writers with experience in either film or television
- If the writer is part of a writing team, only the applicant will be able to participate if selected
- Story Concept must be set in Africa
- The language of the story must be in English or French and/or a local language
- The programme will be delivered in English, therefore applicants must be able to speak and write in English
- Open to all genres
- No producer / production company attachment necessary
- Willing to commit to 7 days in person in South Africa, 2 months in Switzerland, and attend the online sessions from home
APPLY
Applications for the 5th edition are open until August 1, 2026 (4:00 PM SAST). Apply here.
Programme Partner
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SUPPORTERS
DISCOVER OUR ALUMNI PROJECTS DEVELOPED DURING AUTHENTICA
If you would like to learn more about any of these projects, where they stand today or how to get in touch with the writer - you can reach out to them directly!
AUTHENTICA PROJECTS 2026
Logline: In 1999 Sudan, a young Egyptian aid worker desperate to be useful joins a humanitarian mission run on politics, ego, and a permanently jammed fax machine, determined to film the world’s most urgent stories, until her first success teaches her that buried truths travel fastest, like the aid actually reaching people is being smuggled by a fixer no one officially trusts.
Mona Ombogo
Kenya, writer, producer
Project: Kanaan
Logline: When relentless Hawi tracks her soulmate Panda into a deadly militant camp to bring him home, they must choose between a forbidden radical love and the bloody pursuit of a promised land.
Joladé Olusanya
Nigeria / UK, writer, director
Project: KID: The Hogan Bassey Story (based on true events)
Logline: In 1951, nineteen-year-old African champion Okon Bassey crosses the waters to Liverpool, chasing the world title — but Britain and Nigeria have competing claims on him, and the fight to remain himself becomes the most dangerous bout of his life.
Gamel Apalayine
Ghana, writer, director
Project: The Gospel According to Charlotte Nelson
Logline: After her estranged son is murdered, pastor’s wife Charlotte Nelson, defies her faith and family to live with her son’s wild-hearted queer friends in the city, where her search for justice ignites a luminous journey of self-discovery.
AUTHENTICA PROJECTS 2025
Talemwa Pius
Uganda, writer, director
Project: Mad Bounty and the Midnight Gun
Logline: In 1885, Western Uganda, outlaw Mad Bounty hunts the British general who killed his mother only to uncover the Midnight Gun, a native weapon of raw power. To claim it, he must outwit the British and rival factions.
Mlilo Mpondo
South Africa, writer
Project: Women from the 13th floor
Logline: In seedy Joburg stands Hotel Baghdad, home to prostitutes, Khanya, Pinky, Netta and Damaris who secretly raise an immigrant orphaned child. They fight to keep him when social services discover their secret.
Logline: When a remote Kenyan village becomes a testbed for a universal basic income experiment, Lel, the shrewd but illiterate village administrator, must hold the community together as newfound wealth threatens to tear it apart.
AUTHENTICA PROJECTS 2024
Kelly-Eve Koopman
South Africa, writer,
Project: Facing the Mountains
Logline: Spirited Anika, her brother Zayn and bestie Fundiswa live in a bustling commune; when property tycoon Green threatens to destroy their home in the name of progress, the kids must learn to channel city magic to save it. Can they?
Moreetsi Gaban
Bostwana, writer
Project: Outreach (inspired by true events)
Logline: Jacob Lesiba, a seasoned detective haunted by family loss, partners with journalist and former abductee, Katlego Moloi, to investigate a ritual murder linked to a church with otherworldly origins in Maun, Botswana.
Tiah Beye
Ivory Coast / Senegal, writer
Project: Brouteure (The Yahoo Girl)
Logline: Stuck in Abidjan to cure her waywardness, spunky teenager turned unwilling repat Olivia teams up with online scammer Loïc – Cyber Romeo to many, hers IRL – to fund her ticket home to Paris.
Logline: Trust fund baby Martin Waithaka begrudgingly enters politics to win back his shrewd wife Rose, but uncovers a nefarious plot by a corporation that’s bribed Kenyan MPs to ban organic fertilizer, with Rose in on the action, can Martin balance love, loyalty, and political skullduggery before shit hits the fan?
AUTHENTICA PROJECTS 2023
Angela Wanjiku Wamai
Kenya, film editor
Project: ENKOP, The Soil
Logline: After her husband’s suicide, Lorna Marwa fights to reclaim her life on the dusty expanses of Kenya’s volatile ranch land.
Enkop is currently being produced as a feature film by Nairobi based LBX Africa and Netherlands based PRPL. Principal photography is scheduled to start in the last week of August 2026.
Logline: 1992. As South Africa transitions from oppressive regime to land of freedom, past and future collide when new detective Charlotte Ngoyi goes up against celebrated occult crime expert Johannes Auret on her first murder investigation.
Logline: Six travellers-come-conspirators become entangled in the vision of a radicalised and enraged local mastermind, and his ambitious mission to overthrow the government of Ghana.
Logline: Grieving Californian teenager, Aduni, feels trapped at remote Nigerian boarding school, Heron Hall. Her distress manifests as a nefarious spirit, Ojuju Calabar.
