Small Films, Big Dreams

Botswana and Denmark launch a creative pilot using micro-dramas and mobile filmmaking to build skills and test a new knowledge-driven partnership. The University of Botswana has launched a Botswana–Denmark creative pilot project aimed at strengthening skills development and collaboration in the film sector. The initiative, known as Film Konnections, forms part of a broader partnership aligned with Vision 2036 and Denmark’s Africa strategy, which prioritises trade and co-creation over aid.

Professor Doreen Ramogola-Masire, Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Research and Innovation at the University of Botswana, says the project reflects Botswana’s transition towards a knowledge-based economy. “As a country we are looking towards Vision 2036. We are moving from a mineral-driven economy to a knowledge-based economy.

And for that to happen, we need partnerships that are really strategic,” she says. She explains that the Denmark partnership emerged after examining Denmark’s Africa strategy, which emphasises people-to-people collaboration. “This is the genesis of this small pilot that we are doing, to show that the two peoples can actually work together,” she says.

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Film Konnections brings together university students, local industry practitioners and Danish collaborators, including actor and filmmaker Roland Møller. The University is acting as convener, working with stakeholders including the Ministry of Sport and Arts and tourism bodies. “What is it that universities do?

We teach, we do research, we engage,” Ramogola-Masire says. “So we want to use this engagement, using our students but reaching out to the community.” The pilot aims to produce eight micro-dramas. The films are shot primarily on mobile phones and supported by AI-assisted workflows to reduce production costs.

“If you’re going to take a cell phone that almost every Botswana has, that is already a tool that is accessible,” she says. “We then bring expertise. We bring AI. We bring innovation.”

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