Berlinale’s European Film Market Launches EFM Toolbox Distribution Academy

The European Film Market (EFM) of the Berlinale announces the launch of the Toolbox Distribution Academy, a three-year training and networking programme designed to empower a new generation of film distributors across Africa. Through cross-continental collaboration with the European film industry, the programme seeks to help build a self-sustaining infrastructure and create wider audience reach for African films while also enhancing the circulation and visibility of European content in Africa.

The EFM Toolbox Distribution Academy is a joint initiative designed together with leading industry professionals Torsten Frehse and Fabian Massah, by building on their promising 2024 pilot project AEDA (the African-European Distribution Academy). The idea is to mutually share expertise in global film distribution and to create a comprehensive framework that supports the dissemination of diverse content. In collaboration with established European distributors, the new 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. Scaling this experience, 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 initiative is mainly supported through the Creative Europe Media 360° funding scheme, but also through Medienboard Berlin Brandenburg, MOIN Filmförderung Hamburg, Neue Visionen Filmverleih, GIZ – German Agency for International Cooperation, Filmfest Hamburg, European Work in Progress (EWIP), DOK Leipzig and the Goethe Institute Addis Abeba, as well as by many local independent distributors and world sales companies.

The new Toolbox Distribution Academy will train seven to ten African professionals annually through a five-week residency in Europe culminating in participation in the Berlinale’s EFM. Over the course of 30+ in-depth and hands-on workshops, participants 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.

Sata Cissokho comments: “While significant resources and initiatives are already dedicated to the production of films in the Global South – often as co-productions with European partners – there remains a critical lack of continuous distribution infrastructures in many African markets. This gap limits local audiences’ access to stories that reflect their own realities, and reduces the potential for European films to find new audiences in Africa. More than a one-size-fits-all approach, our ambition with the Toolbox Distribution Academy is to provide the participants with result-oriented practical tools and share knowledge that they will then be able to adapt to their local realities.”

Torsten Frehse and Fabian Massah on the joint project: “We greatly appreciate the Berlinale’s endorsement and are delighted that the initiative has found a permanent home within such a short time.”

The new Toolbox Distribution Academy will run alongside the classic EFM Toolbox programme for producers, whose main funders are CE Media, Canada Media Fund and Hessen Film.

The EFM Toolbox Programmes are a creative initiative by the European Film Market to provide capacity building and facilitate market access for historically underrepresented film professionals. Designed as a gateway to the Berlinale Pro hub, the programmes focus on community building between Toolbox participants, Berlinale Talents, the Berlinale Co-Production Market and World Cinema Fund producers fostering peer-to-peer learning, sustainable international career development and engagement with new audiences. The programme wishes to support collaborative growth, cultural exchange, job creation and lays the groundwork for reciprocal benefits through a more interconnected global media industry.

The following film professionals are participating in the Toolbox Distribution Academy 2026: Eden Tigabu, Ethiopa; Ivy Wangui Muiruri, Kenya; Julie Nguyo, Kenya; Kelvin Osoo, Kenya; Inès Girihirwe, Rwanda; Everbright Everready, Tanzania; Semulema Daniel, Uganda