Four African Screenwriters Chosen for Fifth AuthenticA Series Lab

South Africa-based media development organisation Realness Institute has revealed the four creators chosen for the fifth edition of the AuthenticA Series Lab. The screenwriters represent Nigeria, Ghana, South Africa, and Cameroon, emerging from a competitive pool of 144 applications originating across 27 different countries.

Designed to accelerate narrative development across the continent, the AuthenticA Series Lab is a six-month screenwriting incubator focused on episodic storytelling. The current edition commenced with an eight-day physical residency hosted in Ethiopia, concluding on 25 September 2026. Following the gathering in Ethiopia, participants will transition into a series of virtual development sessions scheduled to run through 14 January 2027.

The selected screenwriters bring an array of production and television experience to the programme. Nigeria’s Lateefah Mayaki enters the lab as a journalist, writer, director, and cinematographer, as well as an alumna of the Story Mi Academy. Her recent credits include work on the 2024 short films Fluid Lagos and Angel in the Stone.

Ghanaian-Canadian screenwriter Lindsey Addawoo also joins the cohort. Addawoo’s portfolio features credits on independent projects such as Queen of Hearts (2018) and Promise Me (2020), as well as network television writing contributions to No Church in the Wild (2020) and the drama series Coroner between 2021 and 2022.

Expanding Pan-African Screen and Music Synergies

South African director and writer Phumi Morare represents Southern Africa in the cohort. Morare’s filmography features notable works including Dress (Beneath the Veil) from 2020, When the Sun Sets from 2021, and the 2024 film Why the Cattle Wait. A fourth creator from Cameroon completes the continental selection.

The ongoing development of pan-African screenwriting incubators like AuthenticA holds significant relevance for the broader creative economy, including the music industry. As episodic television production across Africa matures in scope and narrative sophistication, long-form series increasingly serve as commercial vehicles for music supervisors, local composers, and recording artists seeking synchronisation licensing and original soundtrack placements.

Source: Afrocritik