Institut Français – Création Africa x MCM

In 2025, the MCM launched a major partnership with the Institut français through the Africa Creative Sounds program, a support scheme for cultural and creative industries implemented as part of the Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs’ Création Africa initiative. This collaboration aims to strengthen the international visibility of African talents and support their professional development.

A first phase dedicated to mobility and networking

In March 2025, five African composers—from Madagascar, Senegal, and Nigeria—were supported by the Institut français to take part in the International Market for Film Music Composition, organised within the Festival international Music & Cinema Marseille.

The selected artists — Fara Gasy, Eat My Butterfly (Madagascar / Réunion Island), Passa Beatz (Senegal), Rindra Ramili (Madagascar), and Yinka Bernie (Nigeria) — benefited from a tailored program designed jointly by the festival team, the local French cultural network posts, and the Institut français.

Objectives and first outcomes

This initial partnership was built around three main objectives:

Supporting the emergence of new African talents in screen music;
Encouraging concrete opportunities for international collaboration;
Contributing to the long-term structuring of the creative industries sector in partner countries.

The participation of the composers in the professional days held on 27–28 March 2025 led to numerous high-value meetings, including nine sessions with producers and directors, resulting in two contracts already signed and two projects currently in development.

The selected artists also expressed their wish to collaborate with one another and to support the training of emerging talents in their home countries.

Training in Senegal and expanded mobility for 2026

The success of this first phase has paved the way for a broader second stage for the 2026 edition, built around several major milestones.

Training in Dakar – November 2025

In partnership with the association AfricArt Progress in Senegal, the posts of the French cultural network, and the MCM, the KIM’ART SOUND film-music composition residency was held from 24 November to 5 December 2025. The goal was to strengthen the skills of young composers from across the African continent and to prepare them for international professional standards.

KIM’ART SOUND welcomed 12 composers from five countries (Cameroon, Senegal, Mali, Côte d’Ivoire, Chad) for a ten-day immersive training program in Dakar. Guided by mentors and experts from the music and film industries, participants explored new artistic approaches, refined their musical language, and re-scored the original soundtrack of six short films.

The ambition of the residency is clear: to build a pan-African and international professional network, and to encourage a form of cinema in which music is not merely an accompaniment to the image but a narrative force in its own right.

Expanded residency and programming at MCM – April 2026

In April 2026, an extended delegation of 20 African composers will be selected to take part in the next edition of the festival. Extensive preparatory work will be conducted in collaboration with the French cultural network posts: profile identification, online mentorship, networking sessions…

Objective: to make the 2026 edition a decisive milestone in the structuring of screen-music creation at a pan-African scale.

A strategic partnership for the future

By consolidating this collaboration, the Festival international Music & Cinema Marseille and the Institut français are laying the foundations for a long-term strategy dedicated to the development of screen music in Africa.

This partnership aims to support African professionals in their integration into international value chains and to strengthen training initiatives that will foster the emergence of sustainable, recognised, and globally visible talents.