Grant Beneficiaries

Akuol De Mabior (SS) - No Simple Way Home

Akuol Garang de Mabior is South Sudanese, born in Cuba but grew up in Kenya. She has directed three short films: Tomato Soup (2017), Ihlazo (2017) & Fall into the Sky (2018) All three have screened at festivals and events around the world including Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa, the Durban International Film Festival to the Pan African Film Festival in the US.

“…Believing that the perspectives of African women are undervalued,  she aims to create stories for the screen that reach African audiences and encourage a renewed African imagination…” – Akuol

No Simple Way Home made history as the first South Sudanese film to premiere at the Berlin International Film Festival in February 2022. For more details on its subsequent festival run, check out: LBx Africa

Lova Nantenaina (MG) - Sitabaomba (Chez les zebus francophones / Where Zebus Speak French)

Nantenaina LOVA grew up in Antananarivo in a modest family and studied in public high school. A literary baccalaureate in his pocket, he left his country in 1999 to study sociology and humanitarian work in France. Back in Madagascar from 2003 to 2005, he became a case journalist for a French-language newspaper. In 2005, he continued his masters studies in Information-Communication in Reunion before joining the Toulouse School of Cinema (ESAV). He obtained his master in filmmaking with honors and created in 2007, Endemika Films. This Antananarivo-based company is dedicated to the production and distribution of films by Malagasy authors (mainly documentaries). Endemika Films is managed by Eva Lova-Bely, and Candy Radifera. Endemika has co-produced “Ady Gasy, The Malagasy Way“, (2014) which had a great run in international film circuit. Endemika also produced “Zanaka, Thus spoke Felix” (2019), which was awarded the Silver Colt for short documentary at FESPACO

Golden Zebu of Pan-African documentary at Rencontres du film court (Madagascar). Lova’s second feature film, “Aza Kivy, Morning Star” was selected for the official competition at (IDFA), 2020. The project “Bomb Bay”, currently in production, will be Lova’s 3rd Feature Film

Katy Lena Ndiaye (SN) - Une Histore du Franc CFA

Katy Lena Ndiaye has been multiplying experiences in cinema and television for almost twenty years now. She worked for TV programs Afrique Plurielle and Reflets Sud (TV5-CIRTEF-RTBF) as a journalist and producer. Her films, On a le temps pour nous (2019), En attendant les hommes, (2007) and Traces, empreintes de femmes (2002) have been acclaimed and awarded in numerous festivals.

Katy Lena is now running a company, in Senegal, IndigoMood films. Her film “Une histoire du Franc CFA” is nearly done with postproduction. The documentary shows how, from the end of the 1940s to the present day, this currency created by colonial France has been maintained. How and why the countries in which it circulates have come to terms with a very embarrassing history.

Njeri Joan (KE) - Defying Ashes

Njeri Joan is a media production and communication specialist with experience in Content Creation as a Producer and Production Manager. Over the years she has been involved in the development of content based on different clients’ project briefs under her production house, Neolight Productions Limited. She has also worked in the development and production of documentaries such as Zumari, short films such as The Read, Kaleidoscope which was an official selection for the ZIFF 2017 shortlisted under the Short Film category. It was also nominated for the 2017 Kalasha Film & TV Awards, the Best Short Film category, & TV series’.

Joan believes in the use of media to tell Africa’s transformative stories by showing how we are changing our communities’ narratives and fostering positive social impact. She aims to create media programs that are innovative, interactive and indulge their intended audiences.

Shakirudeen Akinyemi (GH) - The Republic Vrs

Shakirudeen Akinyemi is a trained Development Planner & Documentary Filmmaker. In 2018, Shakirudeen underwent an intensive film training program with Weltfilme.org, a German production company working with Ghana YMCA and other west african filmmakers. Shakirudeen was a crew member of CNN’s Documentary ‘Sex and Love Around the World’ (2018) and was also a member of local crew for Major Lazer’s ‘Chasing the Sound’, a YouTube Original released on September 28, 2020. He is currently a Film Trainer for the Ghana YMCA Media Hub, training Ghanaian youth across the country in Writing and Directing for Documentary.

Mumo Liku (KE) - Vigango

Mumo Liku is a producer from Nairobi, Kenya. An Alumni from Daystar University with a BA in communication. He recently completed his MA in Creative Enterprise at the University of Reading. He has produced award winning short films, documentaries and television shows. For Vigango he teamed up with his close friend Saitabao Kaiyare, a filmmaker based in Nairobi, Kenya. Who’s an alumnus at the Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg, Germany, he has engaged in creating Films, Documentaries & TV shows that have been critically acclaimed and won in various film festivals internationally.