What changed
Deepixels launched Watch in Community (WiC) at Durban FilmMart 2026, which runs from October 9 to October 12. The initiative combines film discovery, ticketing, programming, venue operations, payments and audience intelligence across digital and physical channels.
A pop-up WiC Cinema is screening selected African films during the festival, with contributions from Indigenous Film Distribution and NEFTI Films.
Why it matters
African filmmakers have built films, festivals, markets and production capacity. The harder problem is keeping a relationship with paying audiences after a screening ends.
WiC is designed to make that relationship part of the infrastructure. A viewer can discover a film, buy a ticket and encounter it in a community venue, while programmers and distributors can use the same system to manage exhibitions and learn more about audiences over time.
That makes WiC more than another cinema venue or streaming service. Its stated aim is to create an additional route between African stories and audiences across multiple markets, alongside existing cinemas, festivals, broadcasters, platforms and distributors.
The important test is still ahead. The launch shows the model being presented and tried in a pop-up setting, but its scale, financing, commercial results and rollout timetable are not yet clear.
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