Politics and Power

EAVE, Berlinale Talents, Cannes Docs and Rotterdam Producers Connection alumni. Alyaa is an independent producer and filmmaker from Sudan. She studied Filmmaking at London Film School and has an MA with distinction in Cinematography and Post Production from the University of Greenwich. Alyaa has multiple creative credits as a producer and co-producer, director, cinematographer and editor in a number of internationally recognised films. Co-founder of Black Balance Artistic Production Sudan and founder of TOOMA Production Rwanda, Alyaa is currently leading multiple documentaries and fiction projects of different genres.

Chris is a South African documentary filmmaker and cultural producer interested in the spaces between music, sub-culture and underground histories. Chris's unique directorial and cinematographic style has earned him a place in the permanent display at London's Museum of Design with his documentary short, Gqomwave.

Chris was the cinematographer and editor on award winning documentary and installation work Not In My Neighbourhood (2018), interrogating issues of spatial apartheid in Cape Town in conversation with Sao Paulo in Brazil and Brooklyn in New York.

His recent short documentaries include “Freedom Sounds: From Kwaito to AmaPiano” (2022) charting the history of South African music genres as expressions of freedom, and “6SENSE” (2024), a hybrid documentary on visually-impaired Gqom musician Mxshi-Mo from Pietermaritzburg, which premiered at Encounters Documentary Festival, BFI and WOMEX in Denmark.

Christina Ifubaraboye is a filmmaker, the founder of IMBUU and a Hot Docs-Blue Ice 2022/23 Fellow, with a diverse career spanning media, public affairs, arts, and communication. She is currently in post-production on her debut feature documentary, Pülö: bloodstream of the Kirike.

Holding a Bachelor's degree in Mass Communications from the University of Hertfordshire, she has worked across industries to shape narratives, build brands, and craft compelling stories. Her early career saw her writing for Delta State Broadcasting, producing news for both television and radio, and later working in operations at Coronation Registrars. She has also written for a leading culinary magazine and blog in Lagos, curating stories for an inquisitive and discerning audience.

Before launching IMBUU, Christina played a pivotal role in brand positioning at The Ben Enwonwu Foundation, Omenka Magazine, and Omenka Gallery, refining strategy, marketing, and storytelling. At Evoke Communications, she merged creativity with corporate strategy, curating campaigns for major brands and securing a noteworthy clientele as an account manager and copywriter.

Her broad experience across broadcasting, publishing, advertising, and brand strategy has shaped her ability to lead a creatively driven organisation. Passionate about film, media, and popular culture, she focuses on challenging misconstrued narratives and amplifying othered voices, using storytelling as a powerful tool for change.

Evelyne Agli is a filmmaker from Benin known for directing and producing documentaries focused on social issues, notably Nadine et Nadia, nous voulons aussi gouverner. Educated at ISMA, she has received international recognition through labs like Ouaga Film Lab for her work highlighting local stories and women's roles.

Jigar Ganatra is an award-winning, visionary Tanzanian filmmaker whose ecophilosophical documentaries challenge humanity to rethink our connection to nature. With a deep appreciation for the art of storytelling and a thirst for truth, Jigar has made films with communities living in the East African Savannah, the lush Amazon Rainforest and the towering peaks of the Himalayas.

As the founder of the African School of Storytelling (AFRISOS), Jigar is also dedicated to empowering the next generation of filmmakers and photographers in Africa, providing them with all-expenses-paid learning opportunities to help them develop their craft and share their own unique perspectives with the world.

Mark Mushiva is a Namibian technologist, street poet, filmmaker and multi-disciplinary artist. His work focuses on making games, cinematic 3D worlds, and wearable AI devices that try to subvert the colonial legacies of today's technologies. He has a PhD in Human-Computer Interaction from the University of Trento (Italy).

He has written various works around games as socio-technical interventions for social interaction and cultural preservation. Mark is a research fellow at the investigative agency Forensic Architecture, where he studies the environmental impact of German colonial crimes in Namibia through 3D engines, remote sensing tools, machine learning, and decolonial frameworks of thought.

Mthobisi Khanyile is an award-winning South African filmmaker, performer, and the visionary founder of Isilwane Films. Khanyile's work is defined by “sweat equity” - a disciplined, self-taught approach to cinema that prioritizes human investment and social disruption. Based in KwaZulu-Natal, he has built a reputation for capturing the “heartbeat of the people” through high-stakes narrative and documentary storytelling.

In the non-fiction space, he is developing two high-impact documentaries: If the Streets of Phoenix Could Talk, a visceral investigation into the 2021 unrest and racial reconciliation, and a timely exposé on the E-hailing vs traditional taxi industry called The People The Protest and The Price Of Change. In the fiction realm, he recently secured development funding from the KZN Film and Tourism Authority for The Movement of My Feet, a “Sports Noir” centered on a hearing-impaired tennis prodigy in rural Umbumbulu.

A seasoned executive, Khanyile serves as the Director of the Film Faculty for the Imbewu Arts Festival. His debut feature film, Emanzini, funded by Durban Film Office - a poetic exploration of heritage and sport - is now complete and actively seeking marketing and distribution funding. Beyond the lens, Khanyile is a decorated performer, honored as Best Actor at the 2024 Africa Emerging Filmmakers Awards (AEFA).

Rami Jarboui is a Tunisian filmmaker born in 1990. He developed a passion for storytelling at an early age and later studied Multimedia at ISAMM in Tunis. His short film Soup won the Grand Prix International at the Mobile Film Festival in Paris in 2017. Since then, he has directed two short fiction films selected at major international festivals worldwide. His latest short film, The Bird's Placebo, was selected for prestigious festivals including the Sundance Film Festival and Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival.

Rami's work blends documentary realism with poetic and experimental forms, engaging complex social and human themes through a strong and distinctive visual language. He is currently developing his first feature-length, The Salt of the South, which explores ecological degradation and forms of resistance in southern Tunisia.

The project has already received significant international recognition, including the Unifrance Doc Award for Best French Co-production at the CPH:DOX Forum 2025 in Copenhagen, Best Non-Fiction Project at the Durban Film Festival, the Main Prize at the CineGouna Platform Award, and the CNCI Prize at Chabaka in Carthage Film Festival.