Akuna and Google open African AI-filmmaking applications until November 15

Google and Idris Elba’s The Akuna Group have opened From Script to Screen with AI, a filmmaking initiative for creators in five African countries. Google’s October 28 announcement gives November 15, 2026 as the application deadline and February 2027 as the start of the first cohort.

The program combines training with a later route to pitch for production support. Those stages matter for an applicant: joining a curriculum, graduating from it and winning funding for a project are separate decisions. The announcement does not promise a production grant to every participant.

The announced applicant audience includes filmmakers, animators, digital storytellers and other creative practitioners with an existing body of work. Google names Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Sierra Leone and South Africa as the territories covered by the initiative.

That is a more specific invitation than an unrestricted global AI course. An existing portfolio is part of the audience described in the announcement; the page does not supply a detailed scoring rubric or a complete set of application terms. It also does not establish age, residency, equipment or fee requirements for this article. Prospective applicants should check the program’s official application information before making commitments based on those details.

The country list and portfolio description can help a creator decide whether to investigate the opportunity. They do not by themselves establish that a particular person satisfies every selection condition.

The training, delivered with generative‑AI education platform Curious Refuge, includes a 12‑week intensive curriculum covering screenwriting, world‑building, animation and digital production workflows, according to Google. The five named tracks are fiction, documentary, animation, advertising and screenwriting.

Google also describes mentorship and portfolio reviews involving industry mentors, creative technologists and its own teams. Graduates are then expected to form creative teams and pitch original projects on the Akuna Stage. Selected concepts receive production funding and access to exhibition pathways.

For someone choosing a track, the intended creative output is therefore relevant alongside the AI tools. A screenplay and an animated production have different work to develop and present. The announcement names those specializations but does not provide a full timetable for mentorship, pitches or project production. The 12‑week figure describes the intensive curriculum; it should not be treated as the established total duration of every stage.

Google.org is supporting the collaboration with US$1 million, the announcement says. That is program funding. The page does not disclose individual production‑award sizes, a fixed number of funded concepts or a guaranteed payment for completing training.

A creator evaluating the opportunity can separate three questions: whether their existing work fits a named track, whether they can take part in the curriculum, and what terms would apply if a later team pitch were selected. The public announcement answers the broad audience, training themes and current application dates. It leaves the detailed participation and project‑funding terms to the program’s application information.

The immediate action window is the November 15 deadline for the February cohort. It is an invitation to apply and compete for later support, rather than confirmation of admission, a funded production or a guaranteed distribution deal.

AI‑generated illustration of creators developing a film concept. It does not depict actual Akuna participants, a program event, an application interface or output from an AI filmmaking tool. Original artwork by OpenTools Team, based on Google’s October28 announcement.