African Film Festival Organisers — EU €50,000 Medium-Sized Festival Grant Is Open: How to Apply, Requirements and Deadline

The Medium-Sized Festival Grant is part of the Africa-Europe Partnerships for Culture: West Africa component, funded by the European Union and implemented by the Goethe-Institut. It offers up to €50,000 to each of 42 selected medium-sized festivals. Seven festivals will be chosen in each of six sectors: Cinema, Audiovisual Media & Animation; Heritage; Literature; Music; Performing Arts; and Visual Arts. Selected festivals will join transnational clusters led by larger hub festivals, gaining access to capacity building, collaborative work plans, artist mobility opportunities and connections with European partners.

Who Can Apply

The opportunity is open to public or private organisations, non-profits, foundations or collectives that are legally registered in one of the 15 eligible countries: Benin, Burkina Faso, Cabo Verde, Côte d’Ivoire, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Togo. Applicants must operate a medium-sized festival in one of the six sectors listed above and may submit only one application. The original call materials and related announcements indicate that festivals should have at least two to three years of experience and demonstrate local recognition along with the capacity and motivation to internationalise their activities.

How Applications Are Evaluated

Applications are evaluated on several criteria. These include the relevance and consistency of the proposal with the programme’s objectives (20 percent), realism of the proposed budget (20 percent), plans for collaboration with other African festivals and/or European festivals plus artist mobility (20 percent), organisational and financial capacity shown through activity and financial reports from the past two years (20 percent), consideration of gender equality (10 percent), and environmental sustainability measures (10 percent). Proposed activities must support collaborations, co-productions, staff and artist mobility, visits to European events, and international marketing concepts, preferably within the cluster and with European partners. Plans should also address the participation of women (targeting 50 percent) and people with disabilities, as well as environmentally friendly practices.

To apply, organisations must submit a complete application in a single submission through the Goethe Application Portal (GAP) in either English or French. The required elements include an organisational profile with legal registration details, a presentation of the festival describing its main activities, a proposed implementation strategy with specific objectives, expected results and main activities, a networking and cultural exchange plan, measures addressing gender equality, inclusion and environmental sustainability, a detailed budget using the template provided in the portal, and links to the organisation’s website or social media.

Supporting documents that must accompany the application are: a copy of the legal representative’s official identity document; proof of registration of the legal entity; financial statements for the years 2023 and 2024 or 2024 and 2025 (organisational financial statements or formal reports; festival-specific or project reports are not accepted as substitutes); a narrative report on the last two editions of the festival; proof of a bank account in the organisation’s name; bank statements for the last three consecutive months in official bank format; a valid certificate of tax compliance issued in the organisation’s name; and a Declaration of Financial Eligibility using the template available on the GAP platform. Incomplete applications or those missing required documents will not proceed.

The application portal opened on 21 August 2026 and remains open until 20 September 2026 at 22:00 GMT. Online information sessions take place on 28 August and 8 September 2026; organisers are encouraged to register and attend to clarify requirements and the process. After the deadline, administrative and financial verification runs from 21 September to 15 October 2026, followed by project evaluation from 16 to 30 October, with results published on 31 October 2026. Grants are paid in instalments subject to milestone-based progress and financial reviews.

Eligible costs cover project staff, event organisation linked to the cluster activities, co-production funding, travel and accommodation, outreach, accessibility measures, environmental sustainability actions, mobility costs for artists and technicians, short-term training, artist fees, and participation in relevant cultural events. Ineligible costs include debt repayments, land or building purchases, currency exchange losses, seed funding for new businesses, general operational costs not linked to the project, salary top-ups, and costs incurred outside the project period.

For questions about the call or application process, contact [email protected] or telephone +226 25 33 04 49. Technical problems with the GAP portal should be directed to the portal support address. Full guidelines and the portfolio of information are available on the Goethe-Institut project pages. Preparing the required documents early, attending an information session, and ensuring the proposal clearly shows capacity to contribute to a cluster are practical steps that strengthen an application.