Overview
The Real Reel Impact is a program developed by DOCA as a follow-up to its inaugural Impact Lab 2022. The program’s primary goal is to raise much-needed awareness about Impact Production within the continent’s larger documentary filmmaking community. It also attempts to educate producers and filmmakers on the possibilities of their work (films) as a tool and catalyst for social influence. Ultimately, providing them with the resources and expertise required to conduct successful impact campaigns
Goals
- Field-Building & Outreach
- Identifying existing African Film Case studies for Impact Campaign training.
- Building a community of practice for Impact Producers across the continent.
- Training
- Facilitating one Impact Lab per pilot region in Eastern, Central and Western African regions.
- Translating the Impact Field Guide to one of the most predominant Sub-Saharan Languages – Swahili.
- Granting
- Start-Up Impact Grants will be awarded following intensive training coupled with adequate tools to implement their respective Impact Campaign Strategies.
Outcomes
- Increased awareness of the nature and importance of Impact Production within the African continent.
- Improved capacity of film teams to design and implement successful impact campaigns within their respective regions and beyond.
- Broaden the pool of Impact Production funding to adequately and sustainably financially support the narrative-shift work of African documentary films.
Documentary Africa (DocA) via the Real Reel Impact (RRI) program invites applications for the RRI Startup Grants, supporting African documentary projects with urgent, high-impact campaign goals.
The grant supports filmmakers who are ready to launch strategic impact campaigns that use documentary storytelling to drive social engagement, advocacy, and change.
Selected projects will receive startup funding of up to USD 10,000 to implement their impact campaigns.
About the Grant
The RRI Startup Grants support African documentary projects with powerful and time-sensitive impact campaigns that can be implemented within six months.
The funding is intended to help filmmakers activate campaigns that engage communities, influence stakeholders, and create measurable change around the issues explored in their films.
Eligibility Criteria
Projects must meet all of the following requirements:
- The project must be an African documentary (main producer must be African)
- Runtime: 40 minutes or longer
- Stage: Late-stage production OR premiered after October 2025
- Must have a clear and urgent impact goal
- Grant funds must be used strictly for impact campaign implementation
Projects should demonstrate:
- A focused and well-articulated impact strategy
- A realistic campaign implementation plan
- Identified target communities and stakeholders
Deadline: 13th April 2026
Under the Real Reel Impact (RRI) program, Documentary Africa has hosted two regional editions of Doc Day: Impact Edition, each designed to strengthen impact‑driven documentary storytelling across the continent. These editions created hands‑on spaces for filmmakers to refine their impact strategies, pitch their campaigns, and access targeted support to implement urgent, six‑month goals.
Doc Day: Impact Edition – East Africa (Nairobi, Kenya)
Hosted in partnership with Docubox, the East Africa edition brought together filmmakers and impact strategists for a day of learning, pitching, and mentorship. Selected teams shared excerpts of their works‑in‑progress, received expert feedback, and one project was awarded USD 5,000 to kickstart a time‑sensitive impact campaign. The session strengthened practical understanding of impact design within the East African documentary community.
Doc Day: Édition Impact – FESPACO (Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso)
As part of FESPACO 2025, this edition expanded the reach of RRI to West Africa. It featured a mini‑training on impact case studies, followed by a pitching platform showcasing five African documentary projects before a panel of industry professionals. One project received the USD 5,000 Impact Prize, along with mentorship and connections to support implementation of its six‑month campaign.
Collective Impact Across Both Editions
Together, these editions:
- Deepened awareness of impact production in East and West Africa
- Equipped filmmakers with practical tools to design and execute targeted campaigns
- Strengthened cross‑regional networks among producers, strategists, and partners
- Provided USD 10,000 in direct support for urgent impact work
- Nurtured a growing community of African impact‑driven storytellers
Designer & Impact Consultant
Emily Wanja uses storytelling to drive social change. She collaborates with organisations, people, and communities to envision a more climate-just world. As an award-winning impact strategist and producer, she engages with stakeholders in policy, culture, civil society, foundations and the media ecosystem to design strategies for social impact through storytelling. She is the project lead for Climate Story Lab Africa.
Emily previously served on the Climate Justice Resilience Fund Advisory Council and the Global Impact Producers Alliance Committee. She is on the board of STEPS, Advisory board of Open Planet, Steering committee for ECCA (Entertainment & Culture for Climate Change) by UNFCCC, among several other boards. She is the Director of African Programs at Doc Society.
Co-designer
Odera Onyore Nyambok II has a storied background mainly in: Strategic Communications, Media, Arts, Entertainment and Education
Currently, Nyambok is the Communications Officer at DocA – Documentary Africa. Where, he’s notably been involved in the Co-design of the DocA Real Reel Impact Program (RRI) that seeks to holistically support documentary producers/filmmakers with their Impact Campaigns. With DocA’s portfolio of over 40 Beneficiaries he guides them through their production process to better position their films for distribution and outreach.
Mentor
Khadidja Benouataf is an award-winning impact producer and strategist with a background in journalism. She is the president of Impact Social Club, the Francophone think tank for impact films and a member of the Global Impact Producers Alliance (GIPA) advisory committee.
She empowers film professionals and students through international training and mentoring at institutions and organisations including Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg, École W-Paris-Panthéon-Assas/CFJ, StoryBoard Collective, DOC-House and Aflamuna.
As a sought-after expert, she contributes to prestigious film festivals such as IDFA, BERLINALE, DOK LEIPZIG, and FIFDH, her work spans masterclasses, jury duties, panels, pitch coaching, and the design of impact labs, supporting emerging talents.
Having advised over 70 film teams, Khadidja develops impact campaigns for acclaimed documentaries, including The Last Shelter by Ousmane Samassekou.
She was recently invited by the University of Arts London to design the UAL Storytelling Fellowship 2024-2025, a cross-disciplinary program expanding impact production skills across creative practices.
Mentor
Miriam Ayoo is an impact strategist and cultural producer based in Nairobi, Kenya. She has over a decade’s experience working at the intersection of art and activism, designing and implementing programs and outreach initiatives within a range of social impact areas and artistic mediums. She is currently serving as the co-coordinator of the Global Impact Producers Assembly (GIPA). Previously, she worked as the impact strategist/producer for award winning films including Softie (Kenya, 2020), Los Hermanos/The Brothers (Cuba/USA, 2021), and No Simple Way Home (South Sudan, 2022). At the heart of her work is a commitment to centering and amplifying under-represented stories and voices. Miriam holds a dual master’s degree in public policy (Mundus MAPP) from the International Institute of Social Studies in The Hague Netherlands and the Institut Barcelona d’Estudis Interncionals in Barcelona Spain.
Mentor
Dr Liani Maasdorp is a senior lecturer in the Centre for Film & Media Studies at the University of Cape Town. She convenes the MA: Documentary Arts and the Impact Facilitator online short course. She is one of the co-directors of Climate Story Lab ZA and moderates the Impact Teachers’ forum for the Global Impact Producers’ Alliance (GIPA). She was one of the producers of Strike a Rock, which opened the Encounters Documentary Film Festival in 2017 and screened at Sheffield DocFest, IDFA and DIFF. Her current research and public engagement focus on impact producing.