Idris Elba's Akuna Group Launches Free 50-Week AI Filmmaking Program for African Creators

The Akuna Group, chaired by actor Sir Idris Elba, has opened applications for "From Script to Screen with AI," a free 50-week AI filmmaking training program targeting emerging creators in Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, and South Africa. The initiative is backed by $1 million from Google.org and developed in collaboration with Curious Refuge. Participants require no prior AI experience or formal film training to apply.

Selected creators will progress through a 12-week online academy, mentorship, and pitching stages before receiving production funding to complete original films — to be showcased in October 2027. The program covers five creative pathways: fiction, documentary, animation, advertising, and screenwriting. Creators retain full ownership of their work, with no intellectual property claims made by the program or its partners.