CENTRAL AFRICA SCRIPTWRITING COMPETITION

CENTRAL AFRICA SCRIPTWRITING CONTEST

 

RULES

 

Preamble:

 

A- An increasing number of films are being produced in Central Africa, but on a lesser scale in terms of quality.

B- National production does not guarantee these works to be widely promoted and distributed.

C-Intra-regional international co-production is a possible solution to the problem, through the pooling of resources, the involvement of various sub-regional and governmental institutions, castings and cooperation with professionals from various countries in the sub-region.

 

To this end:

 

  • 1- ECRANS NOIRS ASSOCIATION, based in Yaoundé (Cameroon), a Public Interest Association as provided by Decree No. 2016/ 219 of 28.04.16 of the President of the Republic of Cameroon launches a feature film scriptwriting competition with the support of TV5 monde.

 

  • 2- The competition is open to authors from the Central Africa sub-region (ECCAS zone), having at least a short-film script to their name. The project is submitted by an author or a legal production company in activity for at least two years.

 

  • 3- Scripts shall be written or presented in French or English.

 

  • 4- Each Author is allowed to submit various projects.

 

  • 5- Both the theme and the genre are open-ended.

 

  • 6- Candidates shall provide sworn statement to ensure they are the authors of the scripts submitted or any lawful document in case of adaptation. The latter being the case, winners of the competition only receive their cash prize with an attestation of ownership or option on the rights to the original work.

 

  • 7- Files shall comprise following documents :

– A resume

– A summary of a maximum of 100 words

– A synopsis of a maximum of 1000 words

– A description of the main characters (15 words per character and 6 characters at most)

– A dialogued continuity or an extensive workflow with two dialogue scenes.

 

  • 8- A first selection phase shall be carried out by a technical panel of 3 members chosen by Ecrans Noirs. The pre-selection committee will select a maximum of 5 projects for the final selection phase.

9- A jury of 3 members decides on the winner. Ecrans Noirs participates in the jury but does not have the right to vote. 

  • 10- The following criteria will be taken into account: the originality of the project, the quality of its construction, the quality of the dialogue, the project’s promise and feasibility.

A jury of 3 members shall decide on the winner. Ecrans Noirs assist the jury without voting. Members of the Jury shall be of different nationalities: two members from inside, and one from outside the sub-region. 

  • 11- The award consists of a cash prize of 3,000 euros, broken down as follows: 1,000 euros for the author, 1,000 euros for the organisation of the competition, 1,000 euros as financial support for a script doctor chosen by the author and approved by the Ecrans Noirs Association, to improve the script or start developing the project.
  • 12- Authors and rightful stakeholders of the winning script gives Ecrans Noirs Association free of charges, the exploitation rights of the film from its release and reserve the right to Ecrans Noirs Association for the film world premiere unless Ecrans Noirs consent. They also give rights to use parts of the script, not exceeding 3,000 words, for promotional and communication purposes to the public and media if required. 
  • 15- The opening and closing credits of the movie shall comprise a reference to the hereby ‘‘Ecrans Noirs and TV5monde Central Africa scriptwriting’’ grant.

 

 

  • Authors and rightful stakeholders of the winning script gives Ecrans Noirs Association free of charges, the exploitation rights of the film from its release and reserve the right to Ecrans Noirs Association for the film world premiere unless Ecrans Noirs consent. They also give rights to use parts of the script, not exceeding 3,000 words, for promotional and communication purposes to the public and media if required.

 

  • 16- Files shall only be submitted online to all the following addresses, latest on August 30th2025 at midnight: concours@ecransnoirs.org and direction@ecransnoirs.org
  • 17- A receipt acknowledgment mail shall be sent within 48 hours after the submission. Please refer any problem to concours@ecransnoirs.org, or via whatsapp: +237691114441.
  • 18- Ecrans Noirs reserves the right at any time, with the consent of TV5monde, to revise these rules if need be, for objective, technical reasons or reasons beyond its control, until the announcement of the results.

Yaounde, 6thJune 2025