Africa for Africans Jimmy Magala Falanga
Falanga was born in Congo and arrived in South Africa in 2007 as a young pilot in training. However, tragedy struck back home back home when both his parents were killed and the family business was lost. Jimmy turned to filmmaking as a way a make a living and he began as a cameraman for Cape Town TV before he moved to Durban.
African Film School Roger Horn
Horn, with 17 years of experience, completed his directorial debut film, The Sisterhood, in 2010. His interests include material culture, migration xenophobia, post colonialism, and gender and sexuality. A PhD candidate in Anthropology (UCT) he lectures in Documentary Production and Film Studies at the SAE Institute and has multiple projects in post-production.
As we see it Sharon Farr
Farr has worked as film producer & director for 23 years. She runs Shoot the Breeze Productions with Lee Otten. Her work has received numerous local and international awards.
As we see it Shirley Gunn
Gunn has produced four South African documentaries through the Human Rights Media Centre, all well received at festivals. As We See It is a debut film as co-director with Sharon Farr.
Avant l’envol, Sounds of Blikkiesdorp, After Vegas Laurence Bonvin
Bonvin is a Swiss documentary photographer and filmmaker. Her documentary practice has been centred on urban transformations, segregation, human displacements and architecture of power and has been extensively showcased in exhibitions and festivals.
Cahier Africain Heidi Specogna
Specogna now lives in Berlin and has taught at the Berlin University of the Arts and Baden-Württemberg Film Academy since 2003. Her film The Short Life Of José Antonio Gutierrez, was awarded, among others, the Swiss Film Prize in 2007 for Best Documentary Film and the Adolf Grimme Award. In 2017 her documentary Cahier Africain was awarded the Swiss Film Award for Best Documentary.
Can I Please Go to the Bathroom? Jessie Zinn
Zinn is an emerging writer/director from Cape Town. Her short films have screened at film festivals around the world and she was named a Sundance Ignite Fellow finalist in 2016. She enjoys dabbling with the intersection of documentary and fiction forms in her films.
A Country of Fishers Riaan Hendricks
Drawn to observational cinema, his themes pendulum between being personal and very political. The constant struggle of engaging audiences with the “subjective reality” of his characters are expressed in the rich tapestry of moments engrossed in his work. His most celebrated film is the multi award-winning and critically acclaimed documentary film The Devil’s Lair (2013). His currently completing an Honors in Film at UCT.
Craigslist Allstars Samira Elagoz
Elagoz is a Finnish/Egyptian artist currently based in Amsterdam. She graduated as a choreography BA from the Amsterdam University of the Arts in 2016. In 2014 Elagoz won the visual art competition Blooom Award in Cologne with her first short film Four Kings. In 2016 her performance/documentary Cock, Cock… Who’s There? won the André Veltkamp Award. In 2017 her first feature Craigslist Allstars was nominated for DOX:award at CPH:DOX.
Deep Blue / Middle C Bryan Little
His last feature documentary The African Cypher won Best South African Film at the Encounters International Documentary Festival and Best South African Documentary at the Durban International Film Festival. He has recently started exploring new ways of storytelling; combining experiments in new technology, real locations, immersive audience participation and non-linear storytelling.
Don’t Hide the Madness Kimberley Rai
Promoting awareness surrounding mental illness has been the focus of Kimberley Rai’s films. Grateful of her personal insights into mental illness, she hopes to connect with audiences about important matters that shift away from stereotypical perceptions, towards compassion and understanding.
Dragan’s Lair Lucy Witts
Witts’ media career started after moving to South Africa as a young adult, and has evolved from traffic management in advertising agencies, to a steady growth up the ladder of agency television and radio production. Dragan’s Lair is her first documentary feature.
Dragan’s Lair Brad Schaffer
Schaffer is from Cape Town and started his career with Peter Gird Productions, more than 20 years ago. Schaffer has worked on many high-profile international productions with leading directors and in 2007 Brad stepped up to directing both commercials & documentaries.
Europe She Loves Jan Gassmann
Jan Gassmann is a director based in Zürich. Three of his feature films, often set in between fiction and non-fiction have premiered at Berlinale and travelled the world. His last film Europe, she loves has been shortlisted for the European Film Award.
Father’s House Mia Cilliers
Cilliers (MA Documentary Arts, UCT) partly completed her film studies in Los Angeles and Berlin. She has directed, produced, and edited short form docs including Man Up! (2015) and the SAFTA-winning Six to Six (2016). She has worked in reality television and is co-writer and co-director of the web series, The White Folks.
Father’s House Roxanne Dalton
Dalton’s (MA Documentary Arts, UCT) Masters documentary Finding Freedom premiered DIFF 2016. Passionate about combining filmmaking and music, she constantly looks for compelling, impactful stories.
Forever Pure Geoff Arbourne
Geoff Arbourne was born in 1977, Devon, England. Studied in London and began a PhD at the University of Johannesburg before dropping out to pursue a career in the film industry. He was a 2016 Sundance Institute Fellow recipient, a 2015 Independent Filmmaker Project participant in New York, and producer of the award-winning feature documentary Forever Pure (2016). Among his many projects, he is already in pre-production with director Rob Lemkin (Enemies of the People), and Spanish director Diego Quemada-Diez (La Jaula de Oro, Operation Atlas). Geoff now divides his time between England and South Africa.
I Walk Alone Lauren Groenewald
Groenewald started her career in broadcast journalism in 1991 and has moved into documentary film, which is now the primary focus of her work. Her Cape Town based company Plexus Films has produced content for SABC, Al Jazeera, PBS International and TV2 in Norway. She also mentors emerging filmmakers at Big Fish School of Digital Filmmaking.
Indwe Nomakhomazi Dewavrin
Dewavrin began in the film industry by working for several production companies in Johannesburg and Cape Town. In 2016, SABC commissioned One Blood, to produce a 6 part documentary series, due to air on SABC 1 in June 2017. She has also produced a 4 part documentary series for SABC in 2014. One of the films Ndi Vumeni Faniswa, was the official selection at Encounters in 2015 and Black Star Film Festival in Philadelphia in 2015.
Interview with Aunty Anthea Ziyaad Rahman
Rahman is a Masters History Student at the University of the Western Cape. Filmmaker, comic book producer and director he has a unique interest in story through animation. He is subsequently began working on the first issue of the comic serial Siri Watu: Descendants of Africa, with long-time friend Duvan Botha.
Invasion Simon Gush
Gush, is an artist and filmmaker living in Johannesburg. He has had numerous solo and group exhibitions in Berlin, Grahamstown, Ghent, Boston, London and Lisbon. Gush has been included in the biennales of Dakar, Senegal; Bamako, Mali; Montevideo, Uruguay; and Luleå, Sweden and was awarded the Jury Prize at the Bamako Encounters Biennale in 2015.
Lorraine Nonjabulo Zondo
Zondo was born and raised in the midlands of KwaZulu Natal and aspires to be a production accountant and camera operator. She is now a Big Fish School Of Digital Filmmaking graduate who is looking forward to building herself a respectable career in filmmaking.
Louise’s Miracles Pam Sykes
Sykes tells stories in many different media, always driven by deep curiosity about what makes people and the world tick. She is the founder of Digital Storytelling South Africa, a former tech PR nerd and a current PhD student.
Mama Colonel Dieudo Hamadi
Born in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Hamadi initially studied medicine at University of Kisangani but then attended several documentary workshops and made his first feature documentary in 2013. His other films include for National Diploma (2014) and Mama Colonel (2017).
Mamajara Reshoketjwe Joyce Nkgapele
Nkgapele is an international award winning film director. Hailed as one of South Africa’s fresh new talents she is currently working as an Intern Director at Bolobathaba Multimedia and is setting up her own production company; Black Queens Media. She is currently in post – production of her first feature Khera.
Meaning to a Beginning Kutlo Justice Mokhethi
Mokhethi began working in the television industry in 2007, where he landed the role of junior editor on a series called Family Bonds. He then worked for a London based company (Visual Media), travelling and working in Congo, Ghana, Tanzania, Mozambique, Zimbabwe. In 2010 he shot his own film self-funded film, which was broadcast on Mzansi Magic. After all his travels, Kutlo decided to go back to school and joined Big Fish School Of Digital Film Making.
Metalepsis in Black & Say it with Flowers Aryan Kaganof
Aryan Kaganof is a project of African Noise Foundation.
Mogadishu Soldier Torstein Grude
Grude, film writer, director, cinematographer and producer, has contributed to films such as Mogadishu Soldier, Magnitsky Act – Behind the Scenes, The Act of Killing, The Look of Silence, The John Dalli Mystery, Forever Pure, Yodok Stories, Digital Dissidents, Snow Monkey, Inside Fur, Love City Jalalabad, Gulabi Gang, Back to the Square, Pirate Bay AFK, Farewell Comrades, Dance of Outlaws, Russian Lessons, Belarusian Waltz and On a Tightrope. These films have received more than 200 awards, as well as nominations, including two for the European Academy Awards, two Oscars and an Emmy.
Nairobi Berries Ng’endo Mukii // Virtual Reality
Ng’endo Mukii is an award winning artist and filmmaker and is the artist and animator behind the critically acclaimed short film Yellow Fever, which explores the effect of media-created ideals on African women and their perception of beauty. Her films have won accolades at the Chicago International Film Festival, Oberhausen Short Film Festival, Africa Magic Viewers Choice Awards, and the Kenya International Film Festival. Ng’endo is a graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design in the USA and holds a Masters of Arts in Animation from the Royal College of Art in London. She spends her time between Nairobi and Tsavo in southern Kenya.
Nanlaban Shaun Swingler
Swingler is a multimedia journalist based in Cape Town. He is also a senior producer at Chronicle, a South African production house. His work focuses on social, particularly crime and conflict. His photo and video work has appeared in publications such as the Guardian, VICE, and Al Jazeera among others.
Oscar (The Healer) Thandiswa Twecu
In 2013 Twecu produced and edited a 24min documentary Wives of Miya for DSTV, which was nominated for ‘Best Anthropology Documentary’ at the International Gold Panda Awards for Students in 2013, and was screened at the Encounters Film Festival that same year. In November 2013, she and five other filmmakers started a production company named Ripple Effect Media Production Western Cape. She is currently producing for POKOTONG TV, a new mobile channel focused on Social Justice issues.
Promised Land Fallacy Kyla Philander
Philander is a filmmaker and performer. She is at ease both behind and in front of the lens. With her committed focus on representation within media, Philander has worked with brands and artists alike to create beautiful, thoughtful visuals for the world to watch.
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Return of a President Lotte Mik-Meyer
Lotte Mik-Meyer, MA International Development. Background DRTV and Classical Drawing. Guest teacher Danish Film School and internationally. Director and cinematographer ‘What We See‘, ‘The Arab Initiative‘, ‘Return of a President‘.
S’lungile: We will be fine S’phiwo Callistus Mazibuko
Mazibuko, a documentary filmmaker and a storyboard artist, has directed and produced a number of short docs while at Big Fish School of Digital Filmmaking. He has freelanced at Uhuru Productions, Endermol Isidingo and Global and is currently freelancing as a sound person.
Sheriff Teboho Edkins
Edkins, born in 1980, grew up in Lesotho, South Africa and Germany. He studied Fine Art (UCT), followed by a 2-year post-graduate residency at le Fresnoy, studio national des arts contemporains in France and a post-graduate film directing program at the dffb film academy in Berlin. His 10 films have screened at almost 300 film festivals, television, museums (such as the Tate Modern and the Centre Pompidou), won awards and been acquired by private art collections including the Sammlung Goetz in Munich. He lives between Berlin and Cape Town.
Skulls of My People Vincent Moloi
Moloi is a South African award-winning filmmaker, who has across fiction and non-fiction genres on South African television. Vincent has directed and produced, a number of documentary television series and stand-alone in South Africa and across the continent for both local and international broadcasters. Amongst his coveted work he has directed and co-produced A Pair Of Boots & Bicycle.
Strike a Rock Aliki Saragas
Saragas is a Johannesburg based South African documentary filmmaker and photographer. After completing her MA cum laude, in 2015 she started her own documentary production company, Elafos Productions to champion women’s stories, recognising the need to emphasise complex and strong roles for women both in front and behind the lens. Strike A Rock is her first documentary feature film, and was one of six projects chosen to pitch at Bertha’s Good Pitch Kenya in 2016.
Strong Island Yance Ford
Director Yance Ford is a MacDowell Colony Fellow, a Sundance Documentary Film Program Fellow, a Creative Capital Awardee, and has been recognized by Filmmaker Magazine in its annual 25 New Faces of Independent Film. Ford is a former Series Producer for POV where his work helped garner more than 16 Emmy nominations. He is an architectural welder and while at Modern Art Foundry he helped assemble the sculpture “Maman” by Louise Bourgeois for exhibition at Rockefeller Center and now on permanent display at the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain. Ford is transgender and hails from New York. The feature documentary film Strong Island is his directorial debut.
This Land Miki Redelinghuys
Redelinghuys began her filmmaking career in 1994 as freelance director for the SABC in Johannesburg. Since 2000 she has been based in Cape Town, producing a diverse body of documentary films, which have screened on the international documentary festival circuit and have been licensed by various broadcasters, both locally and abroad. As camera-director, she is passionate about telling stories for change, that explore the rich complexity of humanity.
Troupes of War – Diturupa Davison Mudzingwa
Mudzingwa directed Lost Tongue, which won the Women Film Critics Circle Award at the Socially Relevant Film Festival in New York and 2nd place at the ReelHeART International Film Festival in Toronto, Canada. The documentary was also screened at various other festivals around the world. His second feature documentary What’s The Frack? also received critical acclaim at festivals worldwide. Davison is also the founder of Entrepreneurship Africa, an initiative aimed at popularising entrepreneurship in Africa.
Troupes of War – Diturupa Lucas Ledwaba
Ledwaba is a two time category winner of the CNN African Journalist Award and has held senior positions at a number of national newspapers including Sunday Times, City Press, DRUM magazine and is currently news editor at Sowetan. He has also written for the international news agency Inter Press Service News and has freelanced locally for a wide range of publications including Joburg Style, Musiq Mag, YOU, Sports Focus, ITWeb, and the SA Tourism website. Ledwaba has a keen interest in documentary filmmaking and is currently involved in a project to shoot the first ever short film in the SiNdebele sa se Nyakatho language.
Uprize! Sifiso Khanyile
Khanyile is a Producer/ Director fro Anaphora Films. He has worked as writer and content producer on SABC shows Imagine Africa (2007), Zooming In On Men, Talk SA and Hatch (2008). After studying Film & TV at Monash University, Khanyile directed Spiderman and Romeo (2008), a short documentary about the thrills and danger of train surfing on the notorious Metrorail Soweto line. Khanyile recently completed his debut feature documentary, Uprize!
Whose Streets? Sabaah Folayan
Programme Addition
Sabaah Folayan is an activist and storyteller born and raised in South Central LA. As an advocate at Rikers Island, Folayan interviewed incarcerated people about their experiences with trauma. She later helped organize The Millions March, one of the largest marches for racial justice in New York history, in response to the non-indictment of the police officer who choked Eric Garner to death. Folayan entered the world of storytelling through theater, attending the Lee Strasberg Institute of Theatre and Film as a teenager, and performing as a member of the Black Theater Ensemble while a pre-med student at Columbia University. In September 2014, she went to Ferguson with cinematographer Lucas Alvarado-Farrar to learn the truth behind the dramatic scenes playing out on the news. Hearing the stories from the community inspired her to embark on her directorial debut Whose Streets? Folayan recently directed an episode of Glamour Magazine + The Girl Project’s Get Schooled web series presented by Maybelline.
Whose Streets? Damon Davis
Programme Addition
Damon Davis is an award-winning interdisciplinary artist. His scope includes illustration, painting, printmaking, music, film, and public art. Davis has work in the permanent collection at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture, and has exhibited at the Museum of Contemporary African Diasporan Arts (MoCADA) in Brooklyn and the San Diego Contemporary Museum of Art. Acclaimed cultural critic and scholar Jeff Chang licensed Davis’ piece, All Hands on Deck, as the cover art for Chang’s 2016 book “We Gon’ Be Alright: Notes on Race and Resegregation.” For his work as the founder of independent music and art imprint, Far Fetched, Davis received The Riverfront Times Master Mind Award (2013), St. Louis Soup Across the Delmar Divide Award (2013), and Best Hip Hop Producer SLUMfest Award (2014). He is also a Regional Arts Commission Community Arts Training Fellow (2012) and was named to Alive Magazine’s Buzz List (2013).
Winnie Pascale Lamche
Lamche is an award winning filmmaker who has made feature documentaries and series both as a writer/producer, and writer/director for key broadcasters internationally, and whose films have been premiered at many international film festivals including Edinburgh International Film Festival, Locarno International Film Festival, Dublin International Film Festival, Toronto Documentary Festival, FIPA Documentary Film Festival and travelled the world.
