Mbongeni Ngema was a South African playwright, lyricist, composer, director, choreographer, and theatre producer, best known for co-writing the 1981 play Woza Albert! and co-writing the 1988 musical Sarafina!. He was known for plays that reflected the spirit of black South Africans under apartheid, and won much praise for his work, but was also the subject of several controversies. He died in a car accident on 27 December 2023.
Nkosi's Haven is an NGO in the Johannesburg, South Africa area that offers residential, holistic care and support for mothers and their children whose lives have been impacted by HIV/AIDS. Nkosi's Haven also provides support for orphans, HIV/AIDS affected or not. It aims to improve the productivity of their residents through providing access to medical care, therapy, education and skill building workshops. The goal is to empower residents while providing a safe, dignified home in hopes that all mothers and children are able to become responsible and contributing members of society.
Yvonne Chaka Chaka OIS is a South African singer, songwriter, entrepreneur, humanitarian and teacher. Dubbed the "Princess of Africa", Chaka Chaka has been at the forefront of South African popular music for 35 years and has been popular in Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Kenya, Gabon, Sierra Leone and Ivory Coast. Songs such as "I'm Burning Up", "Thank You Mr. DJ", "I Cry For Freedom", "Motherland" and the ever-popular "Umqombothi" ensured Chaka Chaka's stardom. The song "Umqombothi" was featured in the opening scene of the 2004 movie Hotel Rwanda.
Kami is a character on Takalani Sesame and Sesame Square, the respective South African and Nigerian versions of the children's television program Sesame Street.
Keep a Child Alive (KCA) is a nonprofit organization that provides healthcare, housing, and other support services to HIV/AIDS-affected communities in Africa and India. Co-founded by Leigh Blake and Alicia Keys, the organization aims to "realize the end of AIDS for children and families, by combating the physical, social and economic impacts of HIV." Keep a Child Alive organizes the annual fundraiser gala The Black Ball, established in 2004, where celebrities and philanthropists gather to support and raise awareness for the cause. Since the first Black Ball, the organization has raised over $28.7 million for HIV/AIDS treatment.
Lorie Conway is an American independent producer and filmmaker. Her work has received Peabody, DuPont and CableACE awards. In 1993–94, she was a Nieman Fellow at Harvard University; she served for eight years as Vice President of the Nieman Foundation Advisory Board and has served for ten years as an Associate of the Boston Public Library. Lorie Conway's work on Forgotten Ellis Island, the first film and book about the Ellis Island Immigrant Hospital, was supported by three grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities. For over two years, her production company, Boston Film and Video, filmed the former hospital complex on Ellis Island. Recent film projects includes Beatrice Mtetwa and the Rule of Law, about one of the bravest lawyers in Africa—who has been defending victims of Robert Mugabe's brutal regime in Zimbabwe. Tiny Ripples of Hope, a sequel to that film, is currently in development about a school named after Mtetwa which is teaching students about their human rights in Uganda.
Tapestries of Hope is a feature-length documentary that exposes the virgin cleansing myth that if a man rapes a virgin he will be cured of HIV/AIDS. The film focuses on the work human rights activist Betty Makoni has done to protect and re-empower girls who have been victimized through sexual abuse. Tapestries of Hope aims to bring awareness to the widespread abuse of women and girls as well as the efforts of the Girl Child Network and its founder, Betty Makoni.
Thomas Allen Harris is a critically acclaimed, interdisciplinary artist who explores family, identity, and spirituality in a participatory practice. Since 1990, Harris has remixed archives from multiple origins throughout his work, challenging hierarchy within historical narratives through the use of pioneering documentary and research methodologies that center vernacular image and collaboration. He is currently working on a new television show, Family Pictures USA, which takes a radical look at neighborhoods and cities of the United States through the lens of family photographs, collaborative performances, and personal testimony sourced from their communities..
Charlene Leonora Smith is a South African journalist, published author of 14 books, and is an authorized biographer of Nobel Peace Prize winner, and former South African President, Nelson Mandela. She is a communications and marketing consultant, and writing teacher, who lives and works in the United States.
David France is an American investigative reporter, non-fiction author, and filmmaker. He is a former Newsweek senior editor, and has published in New York magazine, The New Yorker, The New York Times Magazine, GQ, and others. France, who is gay, is best known for his investigative journalism on LGBTQ topics.
Liz Marshall is a Canadian filmmaker based in Toronto. Since the 1990s, she has directed and produced independent projects and been part of film and television teams, creating broadcast, theatrical, campaign and cross-platform documentaries shot around the world. Marshall's feature length documentaries largely focus on social justice and environmental themes through strong characters. She is known for The Ghosts in Our Machine and for Water on the Table, for which she also produced impact and engagement campaigns, and attended many global events as a public speaker. Water on the Table features water rights activist, author and public figure Maude Barlow. The Ghosts in Our Machine features animal rights activist, photojournalist and author Jo-Anne McArthur.
Shola Lynch is an American filmmaker, artist and former child actress. She is best known for her films Chisholm '72: Unbought and Unbossed (2004) and Free Angela and All Political Prisoners (2012), both of which focus on African-American women and political history. She is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
The Orphans of Nkandla is a 2004 documentary film about AIDS orphans in the South African town of Nkandla, produced and directed by Brian Woods and Deborah Shipley.
Joan Alicia Shenton is a British broadcaster who has produced and presented programmes for radio and television.
Ruhi Hamid is a British filmmaker, born in Tanzania of Asian origin, who has made award-winning documentaries for the BBC, Channel 4, Al Jazeera International, and other UK, US and European broadcasters. Her films have covered international stories — in Africa, Asia, Europe, South America, the USA, and the Middle East — dealing with social and political issues about women religion, poverty, health, and human rights. A graduate of London's Royal College of Art, she is also a graphic designer.
Isabel Helena Vieira Cordato de Noronha is a film director from Mozambique.
The Life and Times of Sarah Baartman is a 1998 South African documentary film directed by Zola Maseko.
Susan Scott is a British-South African documentary filmmaker known for her film Stroop - Journey into the Rhino Horn War (2018). Born in Zimbabwe, her British family later emigrated to South Africa where she went to high school. Receiving an athletic scholarship to study in the United States, she lived there for ten years before returning to Africa. Scott films all over the world on conservation themed films. She has been named an Unsung Conservation Hero by Africa Geographic.
Audrey Thomas McCluskey is an American writer and professor emeriti. She is an alumna of Indiana University where she was an African-American and African Diaspora Studies professor.
Zoe Ramushu is a South Africa based Zimbabwean writer, director, producer, actress and multimedia journalist. Her debut film, It Takes A Circus was nominated for the Student Academy Awards. Zoe Ramushu is co-founder and former spokesperson of Sisters Working in Film and Television. She also chairs a committee for the South African Department of Sports, Arts and Culture.
