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GLOBAL DOC MEDIA SERIES  

Who Owns the Story? Documentary in Africa 

Monday September 27 

9 a.m.    (Los Angeles)
Noon     (New York/Toronto)
1 p.m.    (Buenos Aires)
5 p.m.    (London)
7 p.m.    (Nairobi)
8 p.m.    (Abu Dhabi)

Register in advance for this meeting: 
https://ithaca.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJErcu2sqDsqGNXkSFr3bSfiIX5TLNhkt1ll 

A 90-minute roundtable with filmmakers, producers, researchers, and cultural activists probing the aesthetics, economics, politics, problems, and solutions of documentary across the African continent. 

The Global DocMedia Series is part of on-going research and dialogues for the BFI DocMedia Book currently in development. Future sessions will feature roundtables on Raoul Peck’s HBO series Exterminate All the Brutes, in collaboration with Cine Documental in Argentina (bilingual Spanish/English), and other international debates in documentary practice, history, and theory. 

The series is a collaboration between the BFI DocMedia Book Editorial Collective, the Park Center for Independent Media, the Finger Lakes Environmental Film Festival, and Cine Documental (Argentina), with additional support from the Latin American Studies program at Ithaca College. 

Panelist bios 
Hawa Essuman is a filmmaker, writer, director, and producer. She originally directed theatre and television drama. She has over a decade of successful filmmaking. She codirected the documentary feature Silas, which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival and directed the multiple award-winning film Soul Boy that screened at over 40 international film festivals. Her works include a short film contributed to the Tate Modern exhibition for Olafor Eliasson’s Little Sun Project. She is the cofounder of Manyatta Screenings, a bi-annual film program showcasing shorts from greater East Africa. She supports the next generation of African filmmakers by running master classes, workshops, and panels on filmmaking across the continent.

Judy Kibinge is a filmmaker who began her career in advertising. She was the first non-expatriate Creative Director of a multi-national regional agency in East Africa leading Pan African campaigns for brands such as Coca-Cola. She has written and directed several award winning fiction and documentary films. In 2013, she founded DOCUBOX, Sub Saharan Africa’s first homegrown fund and hub for independent filmmakers. She is a founding member of the Creative Economy Working Group (CEWG) formed to shape cultural policy in Kenya. In 2021, she was named Most Influential Woman in Film at the Women in Film Awards (Kenya). She is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture and Sciences (The Oscars) and a sitting member of the Documentary Branch Committee for three years running. 

Idrissou Mora-Kpai is an award-winning Beninese filmmaker whose films have screened at international film festivals such as in Berlin, Rotterdam, Vienna, Milano, Busan, Sheffield, Cinema du Réel, FID Marseille. His films include America Street (2019), Indochina Traces of a Mother (2011), Arlit, The Second Paris (2005), and Si-Gueriki, The Queen Mother (2002).  His social documentaries tackle post-colonial African societies, migrations, and diasporas. He is a recipient of the Dutch Prince Claus Award for his artistic achievements dedicated to promoting social change in the Global South.  He is Assistant Professor in the Department of Media Arts, Sciences and Studies at Ithaca College. 

Josh Mwamunga has been involved in the film industry I Kenya since 2009 and believes that film is the most important medium for bringing about social change. In 2012 Josh was one of several researchers engaged to conduct an Africa-wide study of the state of the documentary filmmaking ecosystem in Africa. The resulting report formed the basis for the founding of DOCA, dedicated to nurturing and developing the documentary filmmaking ecosystem in Africa. Josh was involved in drafting DOCA’s initial strategy and joined the organization when it became a registered entity. He currently serves as DOCA’s strategy and finance lead. 

Mohamed Saïd Ouma is a renowned filmmaker, cultural operator, and executive director of DocA-Documentary Africa. Mohamed is also engaged in "The African Heritage Project", a program which aims to restore fifty African films of historical, cultural, and artistic significance. He has cut his professional teeth as a festival manager for the International Film Festival of Africa and the Islands (FIFAI) from 2004 to 2015 where he managed to coordinate support for the festival from the Municipality of Le Port- Reunion Islands and the national film governing body (CNC). His latest film, Red Card premiered at IDFA 2020. 

Moderator 

Nyambok Onyore Austin is a young professional who is passionate about Africa and its children with a storied background mainly in Education, Media, Arts, Entertainment, and strategic communications. He is currently the Communications Officer at DocA –Documentary Africa. From 2013-2018 he was the host of The Great Debaters Contest, a national TV show that aired on Citizen TV and KBC Channel 1. He was also the Main Content Creator and moderator of Great Debaters Contest: Connect Edition, a spin-off of the main show. Nyambok is also a Music Producer at MAD Royal Entertainment. 

Cosponsored by the Park Center for Independent Media, the Finger Lakes Environmental Film Festival, the BFI Doc Media Book Editorial Collective, and Documentary Africa.  

Producers: Ann Michel and Phil Wilde, Insights International 

FLEFF: Celebrating 25 years of a Different Environment 

For more information, contact Patricia R. Zimmermann, patty@ithaca.edu