Global Voices, Local Roots: Producers Blazing the Way

Industry Insights - The EFM Podcast

Industry Insights – The EFM Podcast is presented by the European Film Market of the Berlinale. Hosted by filmmaker Yazmeen Kanji, it delves deep into the rapidly evolving film industry.

In this episode, join us as we delve into the creative journey of four trailblazing producers from equity-seeking groups; Darcy McKinnon, Gilbert Mirambeau Jr., Inuk Jørgensen and Rolla Tahir. Discover how these producers are not only making a mark on the international stage but also actively supporting and nurturing local film cultures. Gain valuable insights into the challenges they have overcome, the lessons they have learned, and the impact they aspire to make in the cinematic landscape.

All four producers and the moderator, Yazmeen Kanji, are alumni of the EFM Toolbox Programmes, an initiative aimed at creating pathways into the global film industry for producers from equity-seeking groups and the Global South. Every year, around 60 feature producers from around the world take part in the programme; you can discover the 2024 Fiction & Documentary cohort here and on the EFM Producers and Project Pages.

Inuk Jørgensen is award-winning short film writer/director with a Masters’ in Film from Aarhus University. Inuk has been making home movies and animations since his childhood in Greenland. As an Indigenous filmmaker he has a focus on aesthetic images and personal stories that touch upon the identity, history, and culture of the Greenlandic Inuit people.

Gilbert Mirambeau Jr. is a creative producer, writer and activist based in Haiti. He is the general manager of Muska Group, a leading production company specialized in advertising, producing commercials and institutional films for more than 10 years. In 2014, he wrote and produced his first TV series for children, Lakou Kajou. In 2015, he co-founded Muska Films to tell stories that matter. ’’I believe cinema is a powerful weapon to convey stories, reflect, shape and challenge people’s perceptions and beliefs.’’ In 2017, he produced his first short film, Kafou, which won several awards and nominations (e.g., Best Film at Austin Film Festival, Orlando Film Festivals 2017). Thanks to Kafou, he was selected as one of the 25 screenwriters to watch in 2018 by Movie Maker Magazine. In 2021, he executive produced the short documentary, Brave, pre-selected at Cannes for the Directors’ Fortnight which won a few awards and nominations, and another short in 2022, Port of a Prince which had a few selection (American Black Film Festival, Pan African Film Festival, Austin Film Festival). For years, Gilbert has been working on his first feature film that he cowrote and produced, Kidnapping Inc., selected to premiere at Sundance in 2024. Today, Gilbert is focused on his next two documentary projects,The Other Side (2025) and The Picture (2026), and his next fiction, Knox (2026). Gilbert is an alumni of several producer’s Labs such as the Fiction Toolbox at EFM (2022), Open Doors at Locarno (2022), Producers under the Spotlight at Cannes (2023) and Eurodoc (2023).

Rolla Tahir is an independent filmmaker and cinematographer based in Toronto. She’s lensed short, narrative and experimental films, which screened in Canada and internationally and is currently in pre-production on her first feature film, Jude & the Jinn, through Telefilm’s Talent to Watch & New Dawn.

Darcy McKinnon is a documentary filmmaker based in New Orleans, whose work focuses on the American South and the Caribbean. Recently released projects include Roleplay (SXSW, 2024) Commuted (PBS, 2024), Algiers, America (Hulu, 2023), Under G-d (Sundance 2023), Look at Me! XXXTENTACION (SXSW, Hulu, 2022) and The Neutral Ground (Tribeca, POV, 2021), recipient of LEH Documentary of the Year 2022. Current projects in production include Katie Mathews’ Roleplay, Jason Fitzroy Jeffers’ The First Plantation, Matthew Henderson’s A King Like Me, Abe Felix’s Turnaround, CJ Hunt’s Unlearned and Suzannah Herbert’s Natchez. Her work has been on POV, Reel South, LPB, Cinemax and Hulu, and has screened at Sundance, Tribeca, SXSW, CPH:DOX and more. Darcy is an alum of the Impact Partners Producing Fellowship and the Sundance Institute Creative Producing Fellowship, and a recipient of American Documentary’s Creative Visionary Award in 2023.

The host Yazmeen Kanji is a Muslim Indo-Caribbean filmmaker, Hot Docs Accelerator Fellow, the podcast host of Breaking The 4th Wall powered by BIPOC TV & Film, and the CEO of Films With A Cause - a consulting firm for authentic on-screen storytelling practices. Yazmeen’s first documentary, From Syria To Hope (2019), was awarded Best Short Documentary at the 2019 Toronto Short Film Festival. Her short documentary, With Love From Munera (2020), won the audience choice award at the 2021 Breakthroughs Film Festival, was an official selection at TIFF (Toronto International Film Festival) Next Wave 2021 and is now available to stream on the digital TIFF Bell Lightbox site. Yazmeen is currently developing her first documentary for broadcast in-part funded by the Hot Docs CrossCurrents Fund. The project investigates systemic racism in healthcare through a story of Sickle Cell Disease, for which she took part in the European Film Market’s Doc Toolbox Programme in 2022, also attending EFM with the Hot Docs Cohort in 2023.

The Berlinale’s European Film Market is the first international film market of the year, where the film industry starts its business. Industry Insights - The EFM Podcast puts a spotlight on highly topical and trendsetting industry issues, thereby creating a compass for the forthcoming film year. The year-round podcast is produced in cooperation with Goethe-Institut and co-funded by Creative Europe MEDIA.