Funa Maduka: Rescripting Global Movie Industry

From Lagos, Nigeria, we celebrate the launch of Palmtrees, a groundbreaking initiative by Funa Maduka, a distinguished figure in the global film industry. Maduka, who previously shaped Netflix's international film strategy across over 100 countries, is now dedicating her expertise to nurturing talent from the Global South through this new screenplay development incubator.

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I go to screenings, panels or film festivals and people are always asking, ‘what are you up to now? What are you doing?’ There was that curiosity and I wanted to make what I wanted to do next count in a way and matter for me.

The response to Palmtrees has been overwhelmingly positive, with accolades pouring in across social media, recognizing Maduka as a "force to reckon with" and a "true creative genius." This anticipation is understandable, given her track record. At Netflix, she played a pivotal role in securing nominations for films like "Divines" and "On Body and Soul" at prestigious awards ceremonies. Furthermore, her own directorial work, "Waiting for Hassana," made history as the first Nigerian film to premiere at the Sundance Film Festival, where she later served as a juror.

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I love trees. It was a pastime of mine when I was a kid. I loved climbing trees, and that followed me into adulthood. When I thought about the regions I want to work with, I wondered what tree grows across all of them. The palm tree is present in Latin America, the Middle East, and the Caribbean.

Palmtrees is set to select 8-10 writers from diverse regions including Africa, the Middle East, Latin America, and South Asia, supporting them in developing feature-length genre screenplays in collaboration with Neon. Maduka's choice of the name "Palmtrees" is deeply symbolic. It reflects her personal connection to trees and resonates with the presence of palm trees across the targeted regions. More profoundly, she views the palm tree as a potent symbol of life and resilience in areas frequently associated with poverty, war, and famine. This initiative, therefore, represents not just a business venture but a heartfelt commitment to elevating narratives from regions often overlooked by mainstream global cinema, offering a vital platform for diverse storytelling.

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And then you have this beautiful symbol of life in the palm tree.