Following six months of intensive development through the Realness Institute’s AuthenticA Series Lab, four African screenwriters have showcased their original television series projects to international industry leaders at the Series Mania Forum in Lille, France.
The AuthenticA Series Lab is an episodic screenwriting programme run in partnership with The StoryBoard Collective, and with support from the Canada Media Fund and industry partners Series Mania Forum, the major international gathering for the development, financing and distribution of scripted television series.
“At Series Mania Forum, we’re excited to showcase these four extraordinary talents from Africa on a global stage, where their rich and diverse stories can captivate the international industry,” says Francesco Capurro, Director, Series Mania Forum. “We’re proud to champion their voices and look forward to the impact they will make worldwide”
Now in its fourth edition, AuthenticA Series Lab supports and mentors African writers to develop globally competitive television series enabling them to pitch and connect with international partners, financiers and producers.
Laure de Peretti de la Rocca, Executive Director, The StoryBoard Collective says, “The AuthenticA Series Lab is not only a long-term creative development program, but also provides writers with the market literacy and industry access needed to protect their voices. We support storytellers whose perspectives deserve far greater visibility on screen and create pathways to international partners ready to bring those stories to life.”
The writers from Egypt, Ghana, Kenya and Nigeria presented their projects at the AuthenticA African Series Pitch on Tuesday, 24 March 2026 during the Series Mania Forum.
The four participating writers are Reem Morsi (Egypt/Canada), the award-winning writer and director, and multi-genre filmmaker who pitched the dark comedy ‘Humanitarians!’
Gamel Apalayine (Ghana), a storyteller working across film, television, theatre, and music pitched his mystery drama ‘The Gospel According to Charlotte Nelson.’
Mona Ombogo (Kenya), an award-winning scriptwriter and best-selling author, pitched a romantic thriller series called ‘Kanaan’ at the Forum.
Joladé Olusanya (Nigeria/UK), a poet, filmmaker, and photographer pitched his sports epic project ‘KID: The Hogan Bassey Story.’
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