Flix Oven has launched an African-Korean filmmaker residency program, naming “Mami Wata” director C.J. Obasi as its inaugural fellow, the company revealed at the Cannes Film Market .

The Seoul-based company has partnered with Continental Entertainment, an African-focused representation and production outfit founded by Ozi Menakaya, to bring African filmmakers to Korea for extended script development residencies.

Obasi is set for a month-long Seoul stay to work on a new feature described as a story bridging African and Korean cultures, with a theatrical release planned. Morgan Freeman and Lori McCreary will serve as executive producers through their Revelations Entertainment banner.

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Obasi’s “Mami Wata” premiered at Sundance in 2023, earned an Independent Spirit Award nomination and represented Nigeria at the 96th Academy Awards. The Variety review of the film out of Sundance said: “Shot in dense, high-contrast black and white, writer-director C.J.…