Rough Cut Lab Africa is back for its 8th edition.

A lifetime dreaming of your story. Years researching, raising funds. Months pouring over text and proposals, rejections and victories. Eventually production starts, and stops. Subjects’ lives change and alter the narrative possibilities. That’s ok though, it’s part of the thrill. Budgets get higher, funding runs lower; but you manage, somehow. Finally, you feel you’re ready for the edit, you think you’re ready. Then the real problems begin.

Rough Cut Lab Africa supports independent documentary films in their rough cut stage by pairing up directors and editors with African and Pan-African story consultants from all fields in the filmmaking world.

RCLA 2025 is a virtual programme and will be held from the 31st of May until the 29th of June 2025. This call is open to African documentary filmmakers and editors with a working rough cut. We also encourage producers to apply and attend. The film will need to have a working and viewable rough cut, a coherent assembly could be considered but we cannot accommodate rushes with no edit. If a project has been chosen the previous year, they are not eligible to enter with a new project in the following year.

Open to all Africa, please submit the following criteria:

• Project Title
• Country
• Independent documentaries, 60 mins or above
• Name & nationality of Director + contact details
• Name & nationality of Editor + contact details
• One-page synopsis
• One page each from the director & editor outlining the difficulties experienced with the film’s current structure and / or problematic areas in the story Online screener link & password to a viewable rough cut