TV5MONDE aims to promote French-language culture and creativity in all its forms. Its unique feature is that it broadcasts works in French, whether they are Belgian, French, Swiss, Quebecois, Canadian, or from the African continent, promoting them around the world and supporting creativity through original productions and co-productions, purchases, and pre-purchases.
Africa has a very large French-speaking population. How does this region compare to other regions of the world in terms of TV5 Monde's coverage?
TV5 Monde has global coverage and we have eight general-interest channels to ensure this coverage. With 50 million viewers out of TV5 Monde's total audience of 60 million, TV5 Monde Afrique is by far the most watched of these eight channels.
It is also the channel for which we develop the largest number of specific programs. We cover every genre: news, magazines, series, films, documentaries, youth programs, web creations, and more.
Our main challenge is to create quality content and broadcast it across Africa.
Our ambition is also to promote French-speaking African productions beyond the continent, throughout the world, to ensure their promotion and consumption. Our goal is to create demand for these programs, and we see this demand every day.
TV5MONDE is very active in supporting production in French-speaking Africa. What are the main sources of funding for producers who come to you with projects?
Projects submitted to TV5MONDE benefit from various sources of funding.
These may be private, public, or from international institutions such as the OIF's Fonds Image de la Francophonie. TV5MONDE's mission is to promote Francophone culture and creativity in all its forms. Its unique feature is that it broadcasts works in French, whether they are Belgian, French, Swiss, Quebecois, Canadian, or from the African continent, promoting them around the world and supporting creativity through original productions or co-productions, purchases, and pre-purchases.
We pay particular attention to projects supported by their country of origin, either directly through public funding and/or through the national channels of the countries of production. It is very important for us to work hand in hand with national broadcasters, whether public or private.
TV5MONDE is also involved in two key support funds: TV5MONDE has renewed its partnership with the Fonds pour la Jeune Création Francophone (Fund for Young Francophone Creators) in synergy with the CNC, FWB, WBI, SODEC, Telefilm, SACD, SACD Belgium, and Film Fund Luxembourg. This fund, allocated to first and second audiovisual works (films, documentaries, dramas, series, youth programs), supports projects in development and production in southern countries. Administered by Générations Films (Burkina Faso), this fund is intended to support the production of young talent from French-speaking Africa. TV5MONDE's commitment covers the acquisition of 75% of the works supported in production.
Finally, the TV5MONDEplus Francophonie Fund was created in 2021 in association with the International Organization of La Francophonie on the initiative of the Government of Canada, joined by those of France, Switzerland, and Quebec. This fund, co-managed by TV5MONDE and the OIF, has supported a total of 32 projects in production or post-production over the first two years (2021-2022). The selection includes feature films, short films, documentaries, fiction series, and animation. In addition to financing these high-quality projects, TV5MONDE also contributes through pre-purchases or co-productions. For this third year, the commission, which met on June 15 and 16, selected 12 projects, 11 of which are in production.
We are, of course, also attentive to projects supported by other funds and grants, which can be combined with these two funds.
When it comes to fiction, what distinction do you make between cinema and audiovisual fiction?
African cinema has a rich history and remarkable, inspiring filmmakers.
The quality of the projects and production is the key to success. The investment we make in each film is much greater than for a series, and we pre-purchase between 15 and 20 feature films each year. We have an ongoing relationship with the African filmmakers we support from film to film. This is the case with Moussa Touré, Alain Gomis, Mahamat-Saleh Haroun, Mati Diop, Boubacar Diallo, and many others. That's why our pre-purchases are often in competition or win awards, as was the case at the last Berlin Film Festival with Sira by Apolline Traoré, which won the Silver Mark at FESPACO and has been selected for the upcoming Toronto Film Festival, Or with Or de Vie by Boubacar Sangaré, in official competition at the Cannes Film Festival with Banel and Adama by Ramata Toulaye Sy, in the "Un Certain Regard" selection with Augure by Baloji, and Mambar Pierrette by Rosine Mbakam, selected for the Directors' Fortnight. In terms of popular films, the huge success of Les Trois Lascars by Boubacar Diallo and, more recently, Marabout chéri by Khady Touré and Luis Marquès shows that diversity is highly appreciated by audiences.
And for TV series…
Here too, we don't think in terms of volume but in terms of project quality.
It is very important for us to work with everyone: with countries in West and Central Africa, but also in the Indian Ocean, where there is a large French-speaking population. We have very good relationships with public channels such as RTI, RTS, ORTB, CRTV, MBC, RTNC, etc., but also with private national broadcasters.
The financing of a series depends on many factors: the number of territories covered, the rights to the various media, the budget and financing plan, whether it is a pre-purchase or a co-production. There are no rules as such; we take a tailored approach and treat each project as unique, depending also on whether we are the sole broadcaster or working in synergy with other broadcasters. Nevertheless,
to give a rough idea, TV5MONDE's investment ranges from 45% to 90% of the overall budget for a series project.
Can you give us some examples of projects supported by TV5MONDE?
Without being exhaustive, I would mention pre-purchases that follow on from successful seasons such as Allo Tribunal (season 3) (60 episodes x 26 minutes / Ivory Coast), Parents Mode d'Emploi (season 7 and season 8 (200 episodes x 3 minutes / Gabon) or new series such as Une Femme à Kosyam (6 episodes x 52 minutes / Burkina Faso) or Ankara l'Héritage des Nanas Benz (16 episodes x 26 minutes / Togo) and Wara. Finally, we are currently finalizing six co-productions and have just launched Ici C’est Babi (41 episodes x 16 minutes / Ivory Coast) exclusively on TV5MONDEplus.
Lack of training is one of the weaknesses often highlighted when discussing production in Africa. What actions is TV5 Monde taking in this area?
We do not have a specific budget line for training, as in the public audiovisual sector this is the responsibility of CFI. However, we do participate in the professionalization of the sector, as most of the people we work with are already trained. Participating in professionalization means providing daily support to writers, directors, producers, actors, and screenwriters from start to finish, which helps to increase everyone's level of knowledge.
Professionalization also means bringing together participants from several countries. As a pan-African channel, we always try to have international castings for our series and we do a lot of tripartite and quadripartite co-productions.
When it comes to digital media, do you produce specific programs for your TV5MONDEplus platform?
The digital age and changing media consumption patterns reinforce our hyper-distribution strategy. We broadcast our programs on all platforms: CANAL+, STARTIMES, IPTV, DTT… and of course on TV5MONDEplus, our free platform. What's more, Africa is the only continent to have a TV5MONDE Afrique app. Of course, we produce specific content for digital media, but more broadly, our goal is to make the programs we produce known to as many people as possible across all media.
Is animation an important sector for TV5Monde Afrique?
Yes, because it also feeds our youth channel TIVI5MONDE. We have significantly increased the channel's presence in the production of African programs for young people, particularly high-quality educational entertainment programs such as Nubu and Yara (Season 2), Gabaô, Le Roi Keita (Season 2), Kenda (Season 2), Conte Nous (Season 5), and new projects currently in production, such as L’AfriK en contes and Noah de Coco, which we will launch in 2023 and 2024. In total, nearly twenty animated programs have been launched over the past three years, including the continuation of previously initiated seasons.