The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and Netflix aim to discover a new generation of filmmakers in Africa. Institutions launched this Thursday a competition that will evaluate synopsis proposals and the candidates' resumes.

"We want to find brave, clever and surprising new ways to tell some of Africa's most beloved traditional tales and share them with entertainment fans around the world," reads the UNESCO statement.

The note states that those interested should submit synopses and resumes by November 14. Winners will have the opportunity to participate in training sessions and receive advice from industry professionals. In addition, they will benefit from a $75,000 production budget to create short films. These productions will premiere on Netflix as early as next year as an 'Anthology of African Short Stories'." In addition to the production budget, each of the six winners will receive $25,000

Film production is growing in Africa, thanks to digital technologies, but the industry's economic potential remains "largely untapped. In these terms, Africa is the "most underserved continent" when it comes to film distribution, noted Deputy Director General Ernesto Ottone in a report.

In the presentation of the report the case of 'Nollywood' (the Nigerian film industry) was highlighted, where about 2,500 films are made annually. 'Nollywood' has allowed the emergence of a local production and diffusion industry with its own economic model, which is private.

"Unlike 'Nollywood,' African film production is struggling to find an economic model to ensure sustainable growth. Mainly because of the size and inadequacy of national markets," Ottone said.

"The revenues generated by the audiovisual sector in most African states go to foreign interests," he added.

Ottone said that the industry "employs about five million people and represents about four billion euros of the GDP [Gross Domestic Product]" of the entire continent.