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REGULATION – OUAGA STORIES LAB 2026

Article 1: Liability
Ouaga Stories ensures the artistic direction, the practical organization and freely chooses the resource persons of the project.

Article 2: Dates and place
Ouaga Stories Lab will take place in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, will take place from 24 to 31 October 2026
The deadline for registration is May 1st 2026.

Article 3: Objectives
Development and co-production laboratory’s main goal of Ouaga Stories Lab is to strengthen the competitiveness of African directors and producers to get to different major international laboratories and to attend international residencies, local funding, international co-productions and their close collaboration with established mentors from the continent.

In 2026, Ouaga Stories offers writers-directors an opportunity to develop their projects, train in presentation techniques and make contact with potential partners.

Article 4: Number of projects and candidates
Les Ateliers de Grand-Bassam intends to select eight (08) projects and invite the writers-directors EXCLUSIVELY to the residential incubation phase.

These project leaders will be put in touch with mentors to work before, during and after the Lab.

Article 5: Target Audience
Ouaga Stories Lab is dedicated to film projects from all over Africa.

  • Each project must be presented by a director.
  • Proof of African nationality is required.

Article 6: Formats and genres
Eligible projects must be:

Feature films (more than 60 min) – fictions or documentaries.

Article 7: Composition and language of the application
The files must be written in French or English.
Any candidate can submit maximum 2 projects.
The registration file includes:

For long features

  1. The synopsis (1 page maximum)
  2. The treatment or the script (10 pages maximum)
  3. The Director’s statement (maximum 1 page)
  4. The Director’s CV (focusing on filmography)
  5. Visual elements (location scouting, sets, casting, moodboard, teaser…)
  6. A copy of the director’s passport, proving his or her nationality from an eligible country
  7. A Vimeo, Youtube or GooleDrive screening link of the most relevant to this application previous work directed by the director (short and feature films are accepted)
  8. If available: Detailed project budget (in local currency and euros)

Article 8: Registration modalities
Registration is free and can be done online at www.ouagastories.net from March 20th 2026.

Article 9: Deadline for registration and shipping address
Registration on the platform of the site must be done before May 1st 2026 at 00:00 GMT.

Article 10: Preselection
Any project whose documentation is incomplete at the closing of the call for projects will be excluded from the selection.

After reviewing the applications, the selection committee will compile a shortlist of projects. Applicants whose projects are shortlisted may be invited to participate in an individual video conference interview to discuss the project in greater detail, as well as the project leader’s background and motivation for participating in the Lab.

Article 11: Official Prizes

At the end of the residency training, meetings, and project pitching, several awards will be given to the best projects: grants for script writing residencies in Africa or in Europe.

Article 12: Services offered

To the best of its ability, Ouaga Stories will cover the cost of travel to and from Grand-Bassam from the participant’s city of residence (on the African continent), as well as the cost of accommodation for the selected participants, including breakfast, lunch and dinner.

The visa costs are the responsibility of the participants of the selected projects.

All the participants of the selected projects have the obligation to participate to all the activities of the lab during the whole week.

Article 13: counterparties

Holders of selected projects commit to:

  1. Add in the communication material of the finished film the words “With the participation of Ouaga Stories Lab”.
  2. This mention will show the logo “Ouaga Stories Lab” in the credits of the film. Les Ateliers de Grand-Bassam logo will be provided by Generation Films and must not, under any circumstances, be modified without its approval. All publications using the logo must receive the prior “print receipt”.
  3. Regularly inform the Les Ateliers de Grand-Bassam team of the development and life events of these projects, in particular information on changes in production status, release date, participation in a festival, awards received, national and international diffusion and especially all useful information allowing to follow the life of the projects selected by Les Ateliers de Grand-Bassam.
  4. Give a free copy to Les Ateliers de Grand-Bassam of the final edition of the film for archival purposes. This downloadable link or file will not be entrusted to a third person without the prior authorization of the director or producer.

Article 14: Information and information.

Participation in the selection process implies full and unreserved acceptance of these rules.

The rules are deemed accepted at the end of the online registration procedure, once it has been validated by the candidate.

The Collective reserves the right to modify the conditions for awarding the prizes or to cancel them and cannot incur any liability in this regard. Candidate will be informed as soon as possible.

Article 15: Information

For any further information you can contact: contact@ouagastories.net