2025 Documentary Africa (DocA) EAccelerate Fund for East African Filmmakers

The  EAccelerate Fund 2025  is now accepting applications from East African filmmakers looking to bring their short film ideas to life. This fund is designed to provide support, funding, and mentorship to filmmakers from East Africa to create high-quality short films with regional and international visibility.

This program is a collaboration of members of the  East Africa Screen Collective (EASC)  with  DW Akademie  on the program “DW Akademie Film Development Fund”. The rationale for the  EAccelerate Fund  is to put management and program design of capacity building tools for the African screen sector into the hands of Africans and African organizations. It is a decolonizing approach in rethinking financing and sectoral partnerships on the continent. With the conviction that the ownership of the program should lie in East Africa, the “DW Akademie Film Development Fund” will be merged into the “EAccelerate Fund” and  managed by Documentary Africa  (DocA) on behalf of the EASC.

• Table of Content
• About DW Akademie
• Documentary Africa (DocA) EAccelerate Fund
• Aim and Benefits of Documentary Africa (DocA) EAccelerate Fund
• Requirements for Documentary Africa (DocA) EAccelerate Fund Qualification
• Application Deadline
• How to Apply

About DW Akademie

We believe that independent media and responsible journalism are essential worldwide. Given Germany's history, we believe that people should be able to freely express their views and have access to independent sources of information. We consider this to be an important prerequisite for peace and democracy.

Documentary Africa (DocA) EAccelerate Fund

Aim and Benefits of Documentary Africa (DocA) EAccelerate Fund

• Selected teams will receive  up to €20,000 in funding , alongside access to expert mentorship to develop their films from concept to completion.
• Additionally, selected films will have the opportunity for  regional screenings , with a potential to screen internationally.

Requirements for Documentary Africa (DocA) EAccelerate Fund Qualification

• Director  and  Producer  must both be East African.
• Open to filmmakers from  Burundi, DRC, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Comoros, Mauritius, or Madagascar .
• Films should not exceed  20 minutes  in duration.
• 80% of the film must be shot in East Africa.
• The final film must be completed by  December 1st, 2025 .
• Selected films must be open to screening  regionally or internationally .

Check also:
Tony Elumelu Foundation African Entrepreneurship Programme 2026

Application Deadline

How to Apply

For more details, visit Documentary Africa (DocA) Program webpage