News

Monetising TV programmes in East Africa

The state broadcasting corporations in Tanzania (TBC), Kenya (KBC), Namibia (NBC) and Zambia (ZNBC) have asked CFI, as the media cooperation operator for the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, for support optimising their advertising revenue.

Enrolling for the International Master in Media Management 2013-2014

You can sign up now!
The International Master in Media Management is a distance-learning course offered by CFI in partnership with the Lille Higher School of Journalism (ESJ) and the Lille Institute of Business Administration (IAE), with support from the Agence Universitaire de la Francophonie (AUF).

Vietnam: VTV modernises its editorial department

French independent director and CFI expert Charles Dubois will be in Hanoi from 22 to 30 April 2013, tasked with advising journalists on its editorial team how to prepare, present and produce the news programme.

Malaria: TV taking on mosquitoes

To mark World Malaria Day, commemorated on 25 April, CFI is making a special set of programmes available to its TV partners.

Waves of peace across the Great Lakes region in Africa

Great Lakes Waves is a network of radio journalists in several central African countries, founded further to an initiative of Panos Paris. This NGO has called on CFI for support in training its correspondents.

Morocco: Maarifa at the Meknes Festival

After attending the Maarifa Lab animation workshop held in Valence in October 2012, three directors of Moroccan and Syrian origin participated in the 12th edition of the Meknes International Festival for Animation Films (FICAM).

Guinea: RTG aims to modernise with support from CFI

RTG called on CFI for support with brainstorming the corporation's new strategy.

Benin: training courses for flagship programmes

Several flagship programmes broadcast by the ORTB, Benin's national public TV channel, recently benefited from a CFI advice and skills transfer initiative.

Mauritania: digital is no longer a mirage

The Mauritanian authorities have been issued with the practical guide to the digital switchover in sub-Saharan Africa.

A call for projects for the Côté Courts Workshop 2013

CFI and the association Project’Heurts are launching a call for projects for Côté Courts (On the Short Side) 2013, a workshop comprising three 1-week sessions focussing on screenplay writing.

A trilingual newsroom team to cover the 5th UNAOC forum

The United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC) aims to improve mutual understanding and cooperation among societies and communities of different cultures and religions. Its fifth forum, attended by 1,400 persons, was held on 27 and 28 February 2013 in Vienna.

Good morning Zambia!

Kwasha Good morning Zambia (literally “Morning is breaking”) is a flagship talk show at the ZNBC (Zambian National Broadcasting Corporation).

Africa, serialised: a training course in 12 episodes

CFI is running episodes 3 and 4 of its serial training course, "Africa, serialised" at the Pan-African Film and Television Festival of Ouagadougou (FESPACO) in Ouagadougou.
This 2-year programme, comprising 12 hands-on courses, is to foster professionalism in the production of African TV series.

Benin: The new Managing Director of the ORTB on a visit to CFI

Stéphane Todomé, new Managing Director of the Benin broadcasting corportation (ORTB) paid a visit to CFI in Paris on 25 January.

Palestinian Territories: pictures of the training course in Bethlehem

CFI trained 12 young journalists from 6 West Bank TV channels in November and December 2012, in Bethlehem.

Environment: Endangered Africa

Endangered Africa is a 13-episode documentary series focussing on saving the environment in Africa.

An educational web-series in Palestine

How to put messages across to adolescents without being boring or dictatorial ?
This challenge thrown up by production firm Le Vent tourne in late 2012, was then taken up by the French educational web-series "La Kolok ". A concept which appealed to the Institute of Modern Media (IMM) at the University Al-Quds in Ramallah (Palestine).

Burma: CFI trains television journalists

Learning to tell a story using images was the objective of this workshop held in October 2012 and attended by around twenty journalists from Up to Date , the news channel for the Burmese group Skynet.

Africa Animated with CFI

For the third animation workshop organised by CFI in Africa, the trainees are working on the directing of an animated film with an African fairy tale theme.

Winner of the 2012 FIPA/CFI award at the Forum des Images in Paris

Mila Turajlic, winner of the 2012 CFI/FIPA award, will be presenting her documentary “CinemaKomunist ” at the Forum des Images in Paris on Sunday 9 December 2012 at 5.30pm, as part of the 4th “Un état du monde et du cinema” festival.

The Black Sea states gear up to switch over to DTT

As in Africa, where countries are gearing up for the switchover to Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT) by 2015, countries fringing the Black Sea are also envisaging this technological leap in the near future.

Accounts by Egyptian journalists

Mohamed, Aml, Inas, Waseem and other Hoqook journalists attended a training course on TV reporting organised by CFI in October 2012.

Johannesburg: 24 programme directors at DISCOP Africa

Programme directors from 24 African partner channels convened at DISCOP (Africa’s premier market for TV programmes) in Johannesburg this year for CFI’s annual programmes committee.

Dia Sud Med: 10 young writers present their transmedia projects

The last day of the MediMed market organised in Sitges (Spain) from 12 to 14 October 2012, ended with a pitch session for five transmedia projects by students from three audiovisual schools partnering the European programme Dia Sud Med: ESAV (Morocco), ISAMM (Tunisia) and ALBA (Lebanon).

The "C Beyrouth" blog is back on track!

Launched in early 2012 by Lebanese journalists at a 4M* workshop led by CFI, the blog "C Beyrouth… et ça bouge !" (Beirut speaking, and up and doing!) is being updated at a new workshop in Lebanon.

French-language summit: special CFI programme for 29 African TV partners

Further to an initiative by the Congolese broadcasting corporation RTNC, CFI is providing its TV partners with special programmes on the French language summit to be held in Kinshasa from 12 to 14 October, focussing on "Espace francophone" or French-speaking areas.

CFI joins forces with the second "Arab Spring Film Festival"

From March to May 2012, CFI lent its support to young Egyptian directors of short documentaries, during a new, 8-week introductory workshop organised in Cairo with the Association of independent film makers SEMAT, the Ateliers Varan, the Institut Français (the French operator in favour of cultural initiatives) in Egypt and Arte France.

Jérôme Cathala has been elected to the post of Chairman of the Board of Directors of CFI

Jérôme Cathala, Director of News Magazine Programmes for France Télévisions, appointed Director of CFI by France Télévisions, has been elected to the post of Chairman of the Board of Directors of Canal France International (CFI) in Paris.

France Télévisions and CFI sign a new framework agreement

Rémy Pflimlin, CEO of France Télévisions and Etienne Fiatte, Managing Director of Canal France International (CFI) have signed a new framework agreement which reinforces the existing agreement and defines the general terms and conditions of their collaboration for initiatives set up to share expertise with media operators from the southern hemisphere.

Conference in Beirut on media coverage of elections

2012 has been the year of elections in numerous countries, and notably in the Arab world. In this particular international context, the SKeyes Centre for media and cultural freedom in Lebanon (The Samir Kassir Foundation) organises a conference in Beirut on 13th,14th and 15th July 2012 on the theme of: «Media coverage of elections: new challenges, new trends».

Egyptian documentaries to be seen on arte.fr

In June 2011, CFI lent its support to a group of9 young Egyptians for the production of short film documentaries.

Meeting with the Libyan Minister for Culture

Further to an invitation from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Minister for Culture and Civil Society in Libya's transitional government, Abdurrahman Habil, is visiting Paris from 19 to 25 May 2012.

Côté Courts (On The Short Side) Workshop 2012 call for projects

CFI and the association of Project’Heurts launch a call for projects for the Côté Courts workshop 2012, which will take place in June during the 10th Film Meetings in Bejaïa (Algeria).

The SLRC reinforces its morning broadcast

Since 2011, CFI supports the public television of Sri Lanka (SLRC) in its modernization efforts. A new mission, with journalists from the morning broadcast, will be held from 21st April to 5th May 2012 in Colombo.

Training in the use of a mobile studio in Burundi

In March 2010 as part of an joint action plan to support media (PACAM I) put into place for the election process in Burundi and foster media synergy, CFI had organised a training assignment on leading and capturing TV debates in the run-up to elections.

The AFP Foundation and Canal France International reinforce their partnership

On 2012 March 7, the AFP Foundation and Canal France International, a French Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs operator for cooperation via the media, signed a partnership agreement with a view to joining forces and pooling their knowhow to create more projects in support of journalists in developing countries.

Sitcom writing workshop in Algeria

During the next Ramadan, Algerians will be able to tune into a new sitcom on state channel ENTV: Couscous Bledi . In partnership with Algerian producers HKE, CFI is providing support for the writing of the script, and training young Algerian scriptwriters.

CFI and ARTE France sign a framework agreement for collaboration

Véronique Cayla, chair of the Board of ARTE France and Etienne Fiatte, Managing Director of CFI (Canal France International) signed an outline collaboration agreement on 23 February 2012.

Workshop on the production and circulation of newscasts in Africa

Canal France International, in partnership with the African Union Commission, organised from 27 to 28 January 2012 a workshop for top-flight journalists on the production and circulation of newscasts in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Gearing up for Rio 2012 with a series

The United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, known as Rio+20 or Rio 2012 is set to be staged in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 20 to 22 June 2012. This major world summit is thus celebrating its 20th anniversary.

"No Coral, No Maldives" Awarded the Eco Film Prize at the Science Film Festival 2011

In 2010, CFI and the Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD), backed by the Programme des Nations unies pour l’Environnement (PNUE), co-produced the documentary No Coral, No Maldives with the Maldives National Broadcasting Company (MNBC).

Méditalents 2: launch of the call for projects

CFI together with the association 1000 visages and the Quarzazate Film Commission launch the 2nd Meditalents call for projects.

Three Egyptian documentaries selected for the Belfort Entrevues Festival

CFI chose to team up with Ateliers Varan to encourage Egyptian to direct short documentaries.

CFI supports the revamping of ORTN’s newscast

Further to a request from management at the Niger broadcasting corporation (ORTN), CFI is organising a training course in Niamey (Niger) for journalists and directors to improve newscast quality, from 22 November to 2 December 2011.

Seminar for programme directors in Niamey

On 28 and 29 November 2011, CFI is organising a seminar for programme managers at state-run, French-language TV channels in Niamey (Niger). This event will help to focus on core issues for African TV channels.

A CFI beneficiary becomes assistant chief editor for GBC (Ghana)

In March 2011, the professional Football League (LFP) and CFI partnered up for the third edition of the "Ten days in the heart of League 1" operation. Six image reporter journalists from the African Continent followed an improvement training course in order to produce topics around football matches and notably the Olympic clash of Marseille-Paris Saint-Germain.

Maarifa: the first pilots will be arriving shortly!

A year after Maarifa was launched, how much headway have the selected projects made? Here’s a progress report on the production of the educational programmes Chaabab Café , by Palestinian TV channel Wattan TV, and Al Oulamaou Assighar (Little geniuses ), by Jordanian TV channel JRTV.

CFI supporting RTS as the newscast gets a facelift

At the request of the Managing Director at the Senegal broadcasting corporation (RTS), CFI organised a training course from 12 to 16 September 2011, in Dakar, to help journalists and directors improve newscast quality. The course was led by François Stuck, free-lance director, and Stéphane Bijoux, coordinator for news diversity at France Télévisions and former Chief Editor for RFO Polynesia.

CFI along side Tunisian media

Since March 2011, CFI steps into Tunisia to accompany the transformation of public service media through a training programme. One priority objective: to allow a pluralist coverage, that is as complete as possible, of the elections on 23rd October 2011. Three new missions are planned for September.

Plan Image Archives: a new workshop in Nairobi

Further to a request from the East African Broadcasting Association, CFI has been setting up the Plan Image Archives project since 2008, to assist state radio stations and TV channels in three east African countries in the definition of a policy to preserve and leverage video archives.
Five audiovisual organisations are benefitting from this project: TBC (Tanzania), TVZ and STV (Zanzibar), KBC (Kenya) and UBC (Uganda).

Launch of the Méditalents call for projects

CFI, in conjunction with the association 1000 Visages and the Ouarzazate Film Commission, is launching the Méditalents call for projects in Cannes on 18 May 2011.

CFI’s TV partners in Africa, celebrating and making music

African TV stations will be broadcasting to the pace of the Make Music celebration on 21 June. CFI is working to support them as they programme a special schedule. Throughout May, CFI is offering musical programmes to enhance the schedules of its TV partners in Africa.

CFI supporting Tunisian media in the run-up to the elections

CFI is providing Tunisian media with support to gear up for the forthcoming elections.

CFI is offering its expert knowledge at the national gathering for short films in Madagascar

CFI is organising a training workshop on animation films for six young Malagasy directors.

A quiz to find out about Thailand

From 7 to 18 March 2011, CFI will be sending an expert to TV channel MCOT in Bangkok to work on a planned TV quiz with a focus on finding out about Thailand.

Journalism, web and networks: Ulysse 2.0

As from 28 February 2011, CFI is launching the Ulysse 2.0 project, focussing on journalism and Internet, in association with the ESJ Montpellier and Moroccan TV channel 2M, under the aegis of the COPEAM.

CFI and FIPA, a partnership to shape production in the Balkans and Caucasus

CFI is joining forces with the 24th edition of the International Festival of Audiovisual Programs (FIPA) and is implementing concrete, shaping initiatives for its partners from the Balkans and Caucasus regions.

CFI forges contacts with Afghan media

In order to gain better insight into the Afghan TV scene and to assess TV operator needs in terms of training and programmes, CFI conducted a canvassing assignment in Kabul in late November 2010.

CFI se mobilise pour les Journées européennes du développement 2010

Located in the Development Village, a France stand will provide a showcase for the various partners in state development aid : the French Ministry of Foreign and European affairs, CFI, the French Development Agency (AFD) and France Coopération Internationale (FCI).

CFI trains young TV journalists in Palestine (Ramallah 20-28 November 2010)

CFI will be sending an expert to Ramallah from 20-28 November to organise training for six journalists that will become news anchors, chosen by the PBC to embody the new face of the channel.

CFI provides the annual forum of the Mo Ibrahim Foundation to its TV partners

On 20 November 2010, CFI will be offering its state-run TV partners the annual forum of the Mo Ibrahim foundation.
This year, it will be broadcast live from Mauritius, at the Swami Vivekananda Conference Centre.

A new visual identity for Thai PBS

Thai TV channel Thai PBS aims to reposition itself as an educational channel and is gearing up for a move to new premises in Bangkok scheduled for January 2011. To this end, it called upon CFI to help put together a new visual identity.

Maarifa: three Arabic TV channels are selected from the call for projects

Canal France International (CFI), France Télévisions and the Arab States Broadcasting Union (ASBU) launched "Maarifa" under the aegis of the Cultural Council of the Union for the Mediterranean in April 2010. This project aims to support TV channels in the Mediterranean and the Arab world in developing interactive and educational audiovisual programmes.

CFI reasserts its support for the media in Haiti

Having donated a camera and an editing bench to the Media Operations Centre (established by Reporters Without Borders following the earthquake), CFI initiatives are now focussed on technical advice and training.

Newsroom and convergence workshop in Hamburg

This project is part of a more general support programme set up by the EBU for some of its members. Participants come from TV channels in Albania (RTVSH), Belarus (BRTC), Bosnia (BHRT), Bulgaria (BNT), Georgia (GPB), Malta (PBS), Moldavia (TRM), Montenegro (RTCG), Serbia (RTS) and Ukraine (NTU).

CFI has officially announced the programming of an African TV Day (JTA)

While attending the Black Screen festival in early June, CFI officially announced the holding of an African TV Day (JTA) scheduled for 27 February 2011, during the Pan-African Film and Television Festival of Ouagadougou (FESPACO). Seven members of the African Association of Private TV Producers (APPTA) will be partnering CFI: Golfe TV (Benin), Canal 3 (Burkina Faso), STV2 (Cameroon), DRTV (Congo Brazzaville), RTT (Niger), TV Renaissance (Burundi) and 2STV (Senegal). FESPACO and the Black Screen festival will also be involved.

Support for the production of election debates in Burundi

In the run-up to elections in Burundi, with five national and local elections scheduled between May and August 2010, French Cooperation has set up a Joint Media Support Plan (PACAM). It has called upon CFI to organise a training course for the media in Burundi as part of this plan.

Special edition of C’est pas sorcier on African screens

On 13 April 2010, CFI will be offering a special edition of the French science magazine C’est pas sorcier in the thick of the Congo river basin rainforest.

Looking at new forms of cooperation between CFI and Georgia Public Broadcasting (GPB)

In the Med-Asia region too, new agreements set out the current terms of cooperation between CFI and broadcasting partners. Some channels have been offered a ground-breaking scheme to purchase French programmes as part of a three-year support process.

A new agreement concluded with Niger state TV

In its drive for partner empowerment, CFI has just launched a campaign to renew agreements with over 70 operators in Africa.

"Nous resterons sur terre" (We’ll stay on earth) : a compelling documentary on climate change

Timed to coincide with the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, CFI, France Télévisions Distribution and UNESCO are acting to support the broadcasting of the documentary Nous resterons sur terre (We’ll stay on earth).

A new partnership agreement with Liberian television

CFI now has a new African TV partner : the Liberian state television LBC (Liberia Broadcasting Cooperation).

Ten days with League 1 : second edition for Philippe Doucet

This second training course on sports commentary and reporting will be bringing together 14 journalists from English- and Portuguese-speaking Africa. Once again at the helm to supervise the team, French Professional Football League (LFP) consultant Philippe Doucet explained the setup for this new session.

CFI assesses its broadcasting scheme

New broadcasting methods have taken African channels global and today raise the issue of broadcasting rights. New, private channels enjoy considerable funding and contribute to a diverse content offer in their respective countries. Given the pressure to achieve high audience ratings and the variety of content available, programming needs to be honed and new audiences conquered.

New directions for the RAPAF ?

After two years in operation, the RAPAF (Network of Public Broadcasters in French-speaking Africa) is at a crossroads. As an association of professionals in state-run audiovisual media, the RAPAF has to choose which aims to focus on in order to face up squarely to the emergence of private media groups and foster audience loyalty. To achieve this, CFI, which has supported the RAPAF since its inception, hopes to consolidate the association’s structure and is setting up an audit of its organisation to help draw up a plan of action for the future.

Ten African journalists in the thick of the Champions League

The training course organised jointly by the French Professional Football League (LFP) and CFI comprises a section covering sports commentary techniques.

Fespaco 2009 announces the award winners

Last Saturday (7 March), the Panafrican Film and Television Festival of Ouagadougou (FESPACO) handed out its awards. The Golden Stallion of Yennenga award went to Teza (Morning Dew) directed by Ethiopian Haïlé Gérima. The winner of the Silver Stallion of Yennenga and the special jury award was Nothing but the truth by John Kani (South Africa). Lastly, the Bronze Stallion of Yennenga was bestowed on Mascarades by Lyes Salem (Algeria).

CFI at DISCOP AFRICA

CFI is participating in the first edition of DISCOP AFRICA held from 25 to 27 February 2009 in Dakar, Senegal.

Broadcasting athletics

From 9 to 13 February, CFI and the IAAF (International Association of Athletics Federations) jointly organised a training seminar on Athletics and Television in Senegal.

Launch of FESPACO in Paris

After Dakar and Brussels, Paris played host on 28 January 2009 to a press conference held by Fespaco (Pan-African Film and Television Festival of Ouagadougou) at the French film library.