Ngardy Conteh George | |
---|---|
Born | Ngardy Conteh |
Nationality | Sierra Leonean-Canadian |
Alma mater | University of New Orleans |
Occupation(s) | Film director, film producer, editor |
Years active | 2004-present |
Spouse | Philman George |
Children | 2 |
Ngardy Conteh George is a Sierra Leonean-Canadian award-winning film director, film editor, film producer. [1]
Ngardy Conteh George was born in Freetown, Sierra Leone and is the youngest of four children. Early in her childhood, her family moved to Toronto, Canada.
Conteh George attended the University of New Orleans (1997-2001) on a track and field scholarship where she competed in triple jump and high jump competitions. [2] Conteh George placed 3rd in high jump at the 1998 Sunbelt Indoor Conference Championship. In 2001, Sun Belt Conference announced that Ngardy Conteh was part of the 2000-2001 commissioners list and Academic Honor Roll. [2] The commissioners list is a compilation of student athletes who maintained at least a 3.5 grade point average for the previous two semesters or three quarters.
After graduating, Conteh George turned her focus towards film production and telling the stories of the African Diaspora. [3] Her first film was Soldiers for the Streets (made as part of the Momentum program with the NFB in 2004) which detailed the Ras King’s efforts to educate and empower youth.) [4] in 2005, Conteh George was the production manager of the documentary series Literature Alive, created by Frances Ann Solomon. She directed 3 episodes and co-directed one of them. [5]
With her company Mattru Media, Conteh George produced, directed and edited many projects for broadcast and corporate clients. Productions included The Rhyming Chef Barbuda, a cooking show fusing culinary with hip hop starring her now husband Philman George. She Produced two seasons of the documentary style magazine hip-hop culture show Cypher for AUX TV, the Half hour documentary The Circle of Slavery which premiered at the Sierra Leone International Film Festival 2012, and the feature length documentary The Flying Stars (Formally named ‘Leone Stars’) [6] [7] [8]
The Flying Stars (formally Leone Stars) is directed and produced by Conteh George and Allan Tong with the other producer being Katarina Soukup of Catbird Productions. The project raised 20 thousand dollars on kickstarter and was the first documentary to ever win the Telefilm Canada TIFF Pitch This! contest. [8] [9] After this success, the film received funding from the Sundance Institute Documentary Film Fund. [10] In the spring of 2012 the film was selected for the Hot Docs Forum. [11] [12] The film had its world premiere at RIDM and went on to play at several other film festivals including Toronto Black Film Festival, Wilson Oakville Film Festival, and Black Star International film festival. [13] [14] [15] The festival run ended with the Best documentary award at the 2015 BronzeLens Film Festival and was broadcast around the world including the Documentary Channel in Canada, NHK in Japan, DR in Denmark and Al Jazeera. It now streams on Kweli.TV worldwide. [1] [16] [17] [18]
In 2016, Conteh George directed and edited the short documentary Dudley Speaks For Me as part of the Akua Benjamin Legacy Project series executive produced by Alison Duke. It received the Best Canadian Presentation at the Caribbean Tales international Film Festival. [19] [20] [21] The two creative women formed a synergy based on intersecting values and formed the production company OYA Media Group. [22] OYA Media Group’s first production was Mr. Jane and Finch directed by Conteh George and co-wrote/co-produced by Conteh George and Duke. The documentary was commissioned by CBC Doc POV and revolves around Winston Larose, a beloved 80-year-old Guyanese-Canadian activist who throws his hat into local politics and is met with unflinching systemic racism in the Canadian political system. [23] The film was nominated for a Golden Sheaf Award and received two 2020 Canadian Screen Awards: the Donald Brittain Award for Best Social/Political Documentary and Best Writing for a Documentary. [24] [25]
Founded by Duke, the two women also lead the OYA Emerging Filmmaker program (formally Black Youth Pathway to Industry) for young Black graduates of film and television degree programs. [26]
Michelle Latimer is a Canadian actress, director, writer, and filmmaker. She initially rose to prominence for her role as Trish Simkin on the television series Paradise Falls, shown nationally in Canada on Showcase Television (2001–2004). Since the early 2010s, she has directed several documentaries, including her feature film directorial debut, Alias (2013), and the Viceland series, Rise, which focuses on the 2016 Dakota Access Pipeline protests; the latter won a Canadian Screen Award at the 6th annual ceremony in 2018.
Barry Alan Poltermann is an American film editor, director, and producer.
Charles Officer is a Canadian writer, actor, director and former professional hockey player.
Barry Michael Avrich is a Canadian film director, film producer, author, marketing executive, and arts philanthropist. Avrich's film career has included critically acclaimed films about the entertainment business including The Last Mogul about film producer Lew Wasserman (2005), Glitter Palace about the Motion Picture Country Home (2005), and Guilty Pleasure about the Vanity Fair columnist and author Dominick Dunne (2004). In addition, Avrich produced the Gemini-nominated television special Caesar and Cleopatra (2009) with Christopher Plummer. Avrich also produced Canada's Sports Hall of Fame Awards (2015) as well as the Canadian Screen Awards (2015-2017) and The Scotiabank Giller Prize (2015-Current).
Into the Abyss is a 2011 documentary film written and directed by Werner Herzog. It is about capital punishment, and focuses on a triple homicide that occurred in Conroe, Texas, in 2001. In the film, Herzog interviews the two young men convicted of the crime, Michael Perry and Jason Burkett, as well as family members and acquaintances of the victims and criminals, and individuals who have taken part in executions in Texas. The primary focus of the film is not the details of the case or the question of Michael and Jason's guilt or innocence, and, although Herzog's voice can be heard as he conducts the interviews, there is a minimal amount of narration, and he never appears onscreen, unlike in many of his films.
Rudy Buttignol is a Canadian television network executive and entrepreneur. Buttignol was the president and CEO of British Columbia's Knowledge Network, BC's public broadcaster, from 2007 until June 2022. He was also president of Canadian subscription television channel BBC Kids from 2011 until it ceased operations in 2018.
The Square is a 2013 Egyptian-American documentary film by Jehane Noujaim, which depicts the Egyptian Crisis until 2013, starting with the Egyptian Revolution of 2011 at Tahrir Square. The film was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature at the 86th Academy Awards. It also won three Emmy Awards at the 66th Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards, out of four for which it was nominated.
Trevor Anderson is a Canadian filmmaker and musician. His films have screened at the Sundance Film Festival, Berlin International Film Festival, and the Toronto International Film Festival.
Parabola Films is a Montreal-based Canadian cinema production company founded by Sarah Spring and Selin Murat, a documentary filmmaker. Parabola Films focuses on the production of videos which demonstrate the role of cinema in social change. The company collaborates with other film-making organizations who emphasize storytelling.
Angry Inuk is a 2016 Canadian Inuit-themed feature-length documentary film written and directed by Alethea Arnaquq-Baril that defends the Inuit seal hunt, as the hunt is a vital means for Inuit to sustain themselves. Subjects in Angry Inuk include Arnaquq-Baril herself as well as Aaju Peter, an Inuit seal hunt advocate, lawyer and seal fur clothing designer who depends on the sealskins for her livelihood. Partially shot in the filmmaker's home community of Iqaluit, as well as Kimmirut and Pangnirtung, where seal hunting is essential for survival, the film follows Peter and other Inuit to Europe in an effort to have the EU Ban on Seal Products overturned. The film also criticizes NGOs such as Greenpeace and the International Fund for Animal Welfare for ignoring the needs of vulnerable northern communities who depend on hunt for their livelihoods by drawing a false distinction between subsistence-driven Inuit hunters and profit-driven commercial hunters.
Tess Girard is a Canadian filmmaker and cinematographer.
Mr. Jane and Finch is a 2019 Canadian documentary film, directed by Ngardy Conteh George. The film is a portrait of Winston LaRose, a longtime community activist in Toronto's Jane and Finch neighbourhood whose campaign for a Toronto City Council seat in the 2018 Toronto municipal election was upended by Doug Ford's decision to slash the size of the city council in half mid-campaign.
Inconvenient Indian is a 2020 Canadian documentary film, directed by Michelle Latimer. It is an adaptation of Thomas King's non-fiction book The Inconvenient Indian, focusing on narratives of indigenous peoples of Canada. King stars as the documentary's narrator, with Gail Maurice and other indigenous artists appearing.
Alison Duke is a Canadian film director, producer, and writer. She is the co-founder and director of Oya Media.
Black Ice is a 2022 Canadian documentary film, directed by Hubert Davis and produced by Vinay Virmani. Based in part on Darril Fosty and George Fosty's 2004 non-fiction book Black Ice: The Lost History of the Colored Hockey League of the Maritimes, 1895-1925, the film presents a history of the Coloured Hockey League of the Maritimes of the early 20th century, and the lingering history of anti-black racism in the sport of ice hockey.
To Kill a Tiger is a Canadian documentary film, directed by Nisha Pahuja and released in 2022. The film centres on a family in Jharkhand, India, who are campaigning for justice after their teenage daughter was brutally raped.