Nasreen is an environmental sustainability practitioner with years of experience in climate development, policy, and communications sectors. She works with local and international institutions to develop tailored programs and interventions that address Africa’s development needs. She’s the founder of Surge Africa, a nonprofit organisation that works at the intersection of policy, media, and resilience in Nigeria and Africa at large. Her recent work is in climate media where she launched the platform SurgeX Media to address the data gaps on climate change in Africa. Her expertise also spans across climate philanthropy, where she works with international funding organisations leading operations in Africa and the broader global south.

Kudzayi’s most excited about the ability to harness the power of storytelling and co-creation anchored in equity and justice to achieve breakthroughs. Currently she leads communications and engagement at UMI Fund, working with grassroots led organisations to drive meaningful impact through intersectional people-centered campaigns and strategic communications. Prior to UMI Fund, she worked at Greenpeace where she focused on building strategies for communications and creative partnerships as well as advocating for Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion in campaign design and delivery. Outside of work, she finds great joy  in meeting new people, maintaining relationships and uncovering new thinking. You’ll often find her discussing and sharing feminist and social justice issues with her Feminist Book Club community.

Peter is a multiple award-winning documentary director/producer focusing on hard-hitting social issues. His feature-length documentary I Am Samuel (2020) tells the story of a gay Kenyan man’s struggle for acceptance and has been shown at more than a dozen film festivals, including Hot Docs, BFI and Human Rights Watch.

Murimi has led numerous investigations for BBC Africa Eye including The Baby Stealers (2020), which exposed a child trafficking syndicate and led to multiple arrests, and Suicide Stories (2019), for which he won the Rory Peck News Features Award. He has made films in 30 African countries for major media outlets including Al Jazeera and Channel 4 News. His first major win was the CNN Africa Journalist of the Year Award for his intimate film about Female Genital Mutilation among his Kuria community, Walk to Womanhood (2004).

Simeon Lpanisi Letoole is a middle-aged man born and raised in the northern part of Kenya, specifically in Laikipia County. Known for his passionate dedication to advocating for human rights in Laikipia County, Simeon is a respected human rights activist in the region. His joyful demeanor is infectious, and he possesses a remarkable ability to articulate his thoughts and ideas with precision and clarity. Through his work and advocacy, Simeon strives to make a positive impact on the lives of those around him, standing up for justice and equality in his community. His efforts have not only raised awareness about important human rights issues but have also inspired others to join him in his mission. Simeon Lpanisi Letoole is a shining example of someone who uses his voice and actions to drive positive change and create a more equitable society for all.

South African based writer and producer, Anita Khanna, has writing and producing credits that include award winning documentaries, Miners Shot Down, Everything Must Fall and How to Steal a Country, plus a drama series for the South African Broadcasting Corporation, The Mating Game. In 2011 Anita drove the first live event of Good Pitch on African soil (Johannesburg 2011). Since then she has directed the Tri Continental Social Impact Film Festival, (2011 – 2018), and produced three documentary series. She is currently collaborating with creatives and activists in Southern Africa to make Hotspot Climate Series, a six part documentary that profiles climate justice activists in five Southern African countries. Anita is also a proud award winning Impact Producer (BritDoc Impact Award 2015) for her film campaign work on Miners Shot Down.

Emily Wanja uses storytelling to drive social change. She collaborates with organizations, people, and communities to envision a more climate-just world. As an award-winning impact producer, she engages with stakeholders in policy, civil society, foundations, and communities. Emily previously served on the Climate Justice Resilience Fund Advisory Council and is currently on the Global Impact Producers Alliance Transitional Committee, as well as several other boards. She is the Director of African Programs at Doc Society.

Nadine Angel Cloete is an independent filmmaker from Cape Town, South Africa. Her work focuses on themes of identity and history. Nadine’s work has screened on national and international broadcasting platforms, online platforms, and global film festivals.

Her documentary Miseducation premiered on the New York Times Op-Doc site and IDFA. It was created as part of the Why Poverty documentary series and looks at a very simple but complex walk to school. Nadine’s short documentary In Conversation screened as part of the Social Justice Film Festival, Seattle USA. It discusses access to safe abortion.

Action Kommandant is Nadine’s first feature documentary. This film has travelled across Africa, Europe, and USA. It won the Audience Award at the Encounters South African International Documentary Festival. It won Best Documentary at Africa in Motion, 2016. It was nominated for Best Documentary at the BlackStar Film Festival, USA, and a SAFTA nomination for Best Achievement in Directing a Documentary Feature. Action Kommandant has screened at many schools throughout the Western Cape and now finds its place on the online Showmax platform. Action Kommandant tells the story of liberation hero, Ashley Kriel.

In 2019 Nadine branched out into fiction directing and Address Unknown is her first professional endeavour in this genre. Address Unknown premiered at the BlackStar Film Festival, USA and won the Audience Choice Award at the Durban International Film Festival. Address Unknown won the 2021 SAFTA for Best Short Film. The film places focus back on the apartheid-era forced removals in District 6.

In 2019 Nadine received a Certificate of Appreciation from the African Union Youth Envoy. Nadine was also part of the 2019 and 2020 Queer Feminist Film Festival planning committee. Nadine’s short fiction film called Net Ons (Just Us) premiered as part of the Silwerskermfees in March 2022 and was nominated as best Southern African short film at the SOTAMBE film festival. Nadine has gone on to produce and direct The Last Speaker in 2022. This documentary was created as part of the Africa Direct series for Al Jazeera. The documentary follows Claudia Snyman and her grandmother, Queen Ouma Katrina Esau as they work on popularizing they dying N/uu language. 

Nadine is currently the Production and Development Non-Fiction Manager at the National Film and Video Foundation. 

Mr. James Smart is an experienced journalist, prime-time television anchor, and talk-show host based in Nairobi. He is the founder of K-Youth Media, a nonprofit organization based in Nairobi that provides media skills and journalism training for youth living in urban slums. He assumes the role of Editor-at-Large at Tazama World Media, a Kenyan based organization that covered stories from low-income neighborhoods by hiring and training journalists who are also embedded within the same communities. This type of bold journalism was a first in Kenya, it unearthed unrealized effects that were being experienced in these neighborhoods especially when the pandemic hit. It created a feedback loop mechanism that enabled the local governments discern which areas were in need or urgent and immediate attention. It made a massive impact to the extent that traditional media took note and they too started operating on this scale.

He has worked with the BBC to produce its “Focus on Africa” broadcast, a flagship TV news programme that highlights stories from across the African continent. He has also worked extensively with Kenya’s leading TV stations, including Kenyan Television Network and Nation Television. Most notably, he successfully launched two of the country’s top television shows, #TheTrend and #KTNLivewire, which integrate social media platforms such as Twitter to enable viewers to engage directly with the hosts of each program.

As part of his media work, Mr. Smart has focused on exposing police brutality, corruption, and injustice, and has been committed to telling the stories of minorities and other disadvantaged groups, including youth. Most recently, he has been appointed as Group Podcast editor- at Nation Media Group, the largest media house in East and Central Africa. This role recognizes the fast growing media of audio in Africa audiences and Mr Smart’s role include spearheading longform journalism in key thematic areas such as corruption, governance, and politics.

James Smart is currently the Managing Editor, Newsroom Productions at NMG covering newspaper, TV, and new media newsroom operations.

Noel Kok is an independent filmmaker and National Geographic Explorer.  Passionate about refocusing the narrative of Africa, creating opportunities and unlocking barriers to entry for African storytellers, Noel is a co-founder and Executive Director of Nature, Environment & Wildlife Filmmakers (NEWF) and co-leads Africa Refocused, a collaboration between NEWF and National Geographic Society. NEWF is a community-centric organization encouraging stories told by a connected pan-African network of natural world visual storytellers, conservationists and scientists and is dedicated to  building capacity in order to enable access, support inclusion, expand local audiences and foster a culture of equity for African nature, environment and wildlife visual storytellers.

Nontokozo Sibanyoni is an alumna of the Sunshine Cinema Spark Impact Programme and a marketing graduate with a passion for digital marketing and impact communications. She thrives on amplifying change on the ground, using film to spark conversation and action, and she finds fulfillment in using online communications to tell stories that matter. She is currently the Media Coordinator at Sunshine Cinema. Nontokozo believes it is crucial for youth to equip themselves with digital marketing skills, as the ever-evolving media landscape offers numerous income opportunities.

Theresa Hill has worked in the documentary film industry for the past 23 years. She is deputy director at STEPS (Social Transformation and Empowerment Projects), a non- profit organisation passionate about the power of documentary film to disrupt, shift & move the world around us. As part of STEPS, she has worked on the award-winning Steps for the Future, Why Democracy?, Why Poverty? and Generation Africa documentary projects. She is in charge of distribution and handles acquisitions and curates the catalogue for the free-to-view AfriDocs online documentary platform since 2014. She has participated in various film festival juries and selection panels.

Cindy Makandi is the founder of Tunga Afrika, an innovative platform that integrates African films in school curriculums. She has over 10 years’ experience working in film production and distribution and holds an M.A. in International Film Business from University of Exeter and London Film School. Her life’s passion is to build an appreciation and market for African films within the continent by creating a film culture among young audiences through film in education.

Miki is a documentary filmmaker who believes story has the power to bring positive change. She is a co-founder of Plexus Films, consults as impact producer, serves as programme director for the UCT Sunshine Cinema Impact course and is co-director of the Climate Story Lab SA. In 2018 she initiated the DFA docLOVE screenings in Cape Town, which has grown into a countrywide program aimed at building documentary audiences and social engagement through film.  Mostly, she loves being in the world with a camera which is why she spent 6 years filming Mother City which premiered in June 2024 at Sheffield docFest and opened the Encounters SA International Documentary Film Festival.

Rumbi Katedza is a Harare-based filmmaker and writer, who produces independent fiction and documentary content through her production company, Mai Jai Films. Rumbi has directed numerous TV series, films, music videos and segments for broadcasters that include BBC, Al Jazeera, Arte and Apple TV.

Her film credits include the award-winning short film Asylum, TV drama Big House, small house and feature film Playing Warriors, all of which have been broadcast across Africa and screened at film festivals around the world. In 2011, her documentary about survivors of election violence in Zimbabwe, The Axe and the Tree, was launched by the Nelson Mandela Foundation in Johannesburg.

Rumbi is a former Festival Director of the Zimbabwe International Film Festival. From 2019-2020 she was the JMD Manyika Fellow at the illustrious Hutchins Center for African and African American Research and an Honorary Fellow at the Film Study Center at Harvard University.

Most recently her documentary Transactions won Best Zimbabwean Documentary at the Zimbabwe International Film Festival, was Runner Up in the Best African Documentary section at Encounters South African International Documentary Festival and was nominated for the German Grimme Prize and for Best Documentary at the African Movie Academy Awards.

Tiny Mungwe is a documentary film and arts producer. She currently works at STEPS (Social Transformation and Empowerment Projects) where she produces Generation Africa, a pan-African anthology of 30 documentary films from 17 countries in Africa, on the topic of migration.

Mungwe’s films include Akekho uGogo a 48 minute documentary about urban youth culture which screened at several festivals including the Durban International Film Festival, Apollo Film Festival and DOKANEMA Festival. Her short film script Evelyn was selected for the NFVF Women Filmmaker Project and she directed another short film in the programme, Daddy’s Boy. She has written for some of the highest rating South African television dramas such as Muvhango and  Matatiele and was one of the directors on the series Uzalo.

For several years she worked as a festival organizer and programmer for four international festivals, namely Time of the Writer, the Durban International Film Festival, Jomba! Contemporary Dance Festival and Poetry Africa. During that time she also worked on the programme for Durban FilmMart (the co-production market of the festival), Locarno Film Festival, and Talents Durban (a career development programme for emerging African filmmakers in partnership with Berlinale Talents).  She continues to work as a programme curation associate for the DFM. She also programmed and curated the city of Durban’s inaugural book and art fair, ARTiculate Africa.

Liani Maasdorp is a senior lecturer in the Centre for Film & Media Studies at the University of Cape Town. She convenes the MA: Documentary Arts and the Impact Facilitator online short course. She is one of the co-directors of Climate Story Lab ZA and moderates the Global Impact Producers’ Alliance (GIPA) Impact Teachers’ forum. She was one of the producers of Strike a Rock, which opened the Encounters Documentary Film Festival in 2017 and screened at Sheffield DocFest, IDFA and DIFF. Her current research and public engagement focus on impact producing. 

Miriam is an impact strategist and cultural producer based in Nairobi, Kenya. She has over a decade’s experience working at the intersection of art and activism,  designing and implementing programs and outreach initiatives within a range of social impact areas and artistic mediums.  She is currently serving as the co-coordinator of the Global Impact Producers Assembly (GIPA). Previously, she worked as the impact strategist/producer for award winning films including Softie (Kenya, 2020), Los Hermanos/The Brothers (Cuba/USA, 2021), and No Simple Way Home (South Sudan, 2022). At the heart of her work is a commitment to centering and amplifying under-represented stories and voices.  Miriam holds a dual master’s degree in public policy (Mundus MAPP) from the International Institute of Social Studies in The Hague Netherlands and the Institut Barcelona d’Estudis Interncionals in Barcelona Spain.