The association
Who we are
BATAO makes shoots and co-productions between audiovisual industries and territories possible, on an equal footing. Behind this work lies a simple conviction: the image is an industry, and this economy should benefit first and foremost the places where films are made.
Our conviction
The image is an industry.
A shoot, a co-production means jobs, service providers, skills passed on, money in circulation. BATAO exists so that this economy genuinely benefits the places where images are made, and not only those who commission them.
The stakes are economic before they are cultural. The fastest-growing audiovisual markets are no longer where they were expected to be. West Africa is on the front line: Logical Pictures has launched a dedicated fund there, Canal+ produces across twenty-five countries, Orange is developing its content there. Co-producing between industries that never used to meet means opening markets, sharing risks and making better films, because they are conceived and made by more than one party.
BATAO moves work, skills and value between territories. Not in one direction only. What has been built in Senegal now holds true for other grounds, sometimes better than expertise brought in from further afield. Exchange has value only if it benefits every shore.
Our role
What we do, and what we do not do.
We facilitate, we connect, we open up networks, we support the process. We are neither a production company nor a technical service provider. You are the ones who produce. It is the professionals of the territories who do the work. We make sure you meet, on terms that are fair to both sides.
Our core business is welcoming shoots and supporting audiovisual co-productions. But we do not stop at cinema: our remit covers culture in the broad sense, and we encourage co-production in all its forms, from the visual arts to the digital arts, depending on the projects. The footprint remains audiovisual, the logic remains economic.
Cooperation that benefits only one side does not last. Images give life to territories, territories give life to images. All our work flows from that balance.
Sustainability
Working with respect, respecting people.
Sustainability is part of the way we work, in the broad sense. On the environmental side, our travel is systematically carbon-offset, and we encourage leaner shoots that weigh less on the locations and on resources.
On the human side, we insist on fair conditions for crews, on both sides: properly paid work, safe sets, respect for people and their craft. We also pay attention to the place of women in the image professions. Cooperation that harms people or places does not last, and does not interest us.
Our history
From 2012 to today.
2012. The idea grows out of thinking by Wallonie-Bruxelles International on new models of audiovisual cooperation. WBI, behind the project and committed from day one, supports a first pilot project with the Ouaga Film Lab, in Burkina Faso, run with the film commission CLAP and many other stakeholders. It is there that the first outlines of a network of film commissions are drawn.
2020. Within the framework of the Permanent Joint Commission between Belgium and Senegal, BATAO Sénégal comes into being, co-founded by Wallimage and the Centre Yennenga with the support of Wallonie-Bruxelles International. Carried on both sides, in Belgium as on the ground in Senegal, it becomes over five years a genuine film commission: locations, crews, permits, connections.
2026. BATAO becomes a non-profit association, with its own governance. The project keeps its name, now a brand, and opens its ambition to other territories, alongside its long-standing partners and newcomers.
The team
A dual culture, audiovisual and cooperation.
BATAO brings together multidisciplinary teams. Everyone who commits to it acts in their own name and brings their own expertise: audiovisual specialists, on the production side as on the industry side, and professionals of international cooperation.
This dual culture is what makes us legitimate to run this kind of project, where others master only half of the equation. The make-up of our bodies is set out in detail on the Governance page.
