UNESCO-Nara Film Residency for young women African filmmakers
December 2019—September 2022
Overview
The objective of the UNESCO-Nara Film Residency for young women African filmmakers was to empower 10 young African women filmmakers to produce documentary films through their participation in an international film residency.
While the African film industry is emerging as an important source of economic growth, providing decent work and income opportunities for many people in Africa, women film professionals in remain largely under-represented compared to men, especially in key creative and decision-making positions, with less access to training, exchange, and mobility opportunities. Recognizing women as creators and producers of cultural goods and valuing their achievements in all areas of cultural life remains critical for the development of a fair and diverse film industry across the continent.
Activities
Under the supervision of acclaimed film director and UNESCO Goodwill ambassador for the Cultural and Creative Industries, Ms. Naomi Kawase, and her team, UNESCO offered a 2-week filmmaking residency for 10 young African women filmmakers from selected countries in Africa (Burkina Faso, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa). This film and artist-in-residence workshop allowed for the transnational exchange and sharing of artistic experiences between young African and Japanese filmmakers in a supported learning environment.. The residency provided artistic guidance and put in place an open platform for experimental creation and artistic renewal, while fostering collaborations between African and Japanese artists, providing international exposure for the work of young women artists, and opening new opportunities for artistic creation, production and dissemination.
During the residency, participants completed their individual short films—from shooting to scripting and editing. They collaborated with other participants, discussed technical and artistic issues, and interacted with the group throughout the different stages of the editing process.
UNESCO launched an open call in December 2019. 555 people applied from the 5 eligible countries (Burkina Faso, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa), out of which 10 were selected. Due to delays incurred by the COVID-19 pandemic, the UNESCO/Nara residency programme took place in June 2022 in Nara, Japan.*
During the film residency, the filmmakers explored potential documentary subjects through a range of cultural visits and conducted interviews. Ms Kawase provided feedback and empowered 9 filmmakers to each produce a 10-minute film.
The final films premiered at the Nara International Film Festival between 17-24 September 2022 and Seven of the young women filmmakers returned to Nara for the festival. To further give visibility to these films, UNESCO organized a screening in collaboration with the Embassy of Japan in Burkina Faso during FESPACO 2023. Following the screening, four filmmakers who participated in the residency took part in a panel discussion to reflect on the opportunities offered by the residency, as well as their passion for cinema.
* Due to a scheduling conflict, one laureate was unable to participate in the residency programme. As a result, nine out of ten selected participants took part in the residency programme.
Naomi Kawase
Ms Naomi Kawase, internationally acclaimed film director and founder of the Nara International Film Festival.
Grand Prix Winner for the Mourning Forest, Cannes Film Festival 2007.
She has been designated UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador for the Cultural and Creatives industries in 2021, in light of her commitment to promoting the Cultural and Creative Industries as a lever for building more just societies, including for girls and women. Read more
In a way, being a woman made it easier to look closely at my own environment. Not being in the mainstream or the center, she can make new discoveries. In my case, I will create things from the sources within myself. I believe that at the depth of the personal experience, there is something universal.
Mayowa Bakare
Mayowa Bakare (Nigeria) has worked as a script writer and assistant director for four years. In 2018, she worked on Chief Daddy, the third highest grossing Nollywood movie of all time. Bakare is a co-producer of feature film Oga Bolaji which was screened at Real Time Film festival (Nigeria), New York African Film Festival, Nollywood Week (France) and Zanzibar International Film Festival among others. In 2019, she hosted her first workshop for young, aspiring female filmmakers. Bakare has a degree in performing arts from the Pencil Film and Television Institute in Lagos.
There are not enough stories about women told by women. I will explore a different narrative for the stories we tell of ourselves.
Okuhle Dyosopu
Okuhle Dyosopu (South Africa) is a documentary filmmaker and founder of Outsider, an independent production company. In 2017, she developed a six-part documentary series Youth Culture commissioned and aired on South African National Broadcaster. The series was selected for the Encounters International Documentary Film festival (South Africa). Dyosopu developped and pitched her first feature film Missing Middle in 2019 at the Dok Festival Munich residency. She is a graduate in graphic design from the Nelson Mandela University.
Women are the best kept secret in the film industry. I am the change I want to see.
Awa Gueye
Awa Gueye (Senegal) is a freelance film director. She has directed five films including documentaries, fictions and docu-fiction. Gueye is currently developing her first fictional feature film based on her short film Mo Mola La Brotti. She is also working on a short film commissioned by a professional association on women's rights and the value of women in the society. She studied film at the University Gaston Berger in Saint-Louis du Sénégal.
Today, we attach so much importance to appearance. I want to capture a different kind of beauty - beauty in opening up to and accepting others.
Joan Kiragu
Joan Kiragu (Kenya) is a documentary filmmaker. Kiragu has won multiple Best Student Film awards for her films Detox and The First Date. Her latest film NUMB on post-partum depression received a jury mention at the My Kenya My Story film competition and an official selection for the LA Reel Recovery Film Festival (USA) and the Urusaro International Women Film Festival (Rwanda). She studied film at Moi University in Nairobi.
This residency offers an international platform for the voice of women. I will be an ambassador pushing forward the agenda whilst making stories that matter.
Uren Makut
Uren Makut (Nigeria) is a film director and a producer. Her docu-drama Life as It Is won the Best Docu-drama and Best Producer at AFRICAST 2012 and was nominated Best Documentary at Abuja Film Festival 2015. Makut is currently developing a Skills Acquisition Centre, a training programme for young aspiring filmmakers with preference to female candidates. She has a degree in mass communication from Ahmadu Bellu University in Zaria.
Women have always had a presence in filmmaking but have consistently been in the background. They are highly creative and will do amazing things when encouraged.
Lydia Matata
Lydia Matata (Kenya) is a filmmaker, writer and journalist. Her directorial debut Millet, a short film, won production funding at Shorts, Shots & Shots 2019 (Kenya). Her first feature documentary film, Better Sundays, received funding and lab support from the East African Documentary Film Fund and participated in the Durban International Short Film Festival. Matata is a part of the Rogue Film Society, a network of young, emerging filmmakers based in Nairobi.
Filmmaking, like life, offers constant lessons. I want the confidence that what I explore through my work as a female African filmmaker is just as good and important as my counterparts elsewhere.
Fama Reyane Sow
Fama Reyane Sow (Senegal) is a director and a screenwriter. She has worked as an assistant director on multiple feature films including Marabout by Alassane Sy, White Color Black by Joseph Adsunloye and Sega by ldil Ibrahim. As an independent filmmaker, Sow has written, directed and edited short films, commercials, TV series and music videos. She is currently producing her first short film.
I want to create strong women characters so the youth in Senegal can have heroines to admire.
Delphine Yerbanga
Delphine Yerbanga (Burkina Faso) is a director and producer at Burkina National Television. She has produced numerous short documentary films in Burkina Faso, Senegal and Niger, three of which were shown at Les Rencontres SOBATE Documentary Film Festival (Burkina Faso). She has been a member of the organizational committee of the Junior Space of FESPACO since 2011 and served as its president in 2019. She is also president of AFRICADOC Burkina association. She studied film at the University Gaston Berger in Saint-Louis du Sénégal.
This residency will be a creative process that can show me how to grow an idea and give birth to a tangible film.
Floriane Zoundi
Floriane Zoundi (Burkina Faso) is a director and a screenwriter at BF1 Television. She has worked as a director of photography on short and feature films including L'assassin de ma maitresse by Emmanuel Routouamba and Boubacar Sangare. Zoundi has participated in writing and directing residencies at Institute Imagine. She is also a member of a young female filmmaker collective. She studied cinema at Insitut Supérieur de l'Image et du Son in Ouagadougou.
They say a director is like a conductor of an orchestra. I want to gain new skills, watch others work, and listen and share among my peers.
Thishiwe Ziqubu
Thishiwe Ziqubu (South Africa) is a director and a founder of Ngoyama Kapital, an independent production company. She has won multiple South African Film and Television Awards for directing, scriptwriting and acting in television series and films.
Due to a scheduling conflict, Ms. Ziqubu was unable to attend the residency.
I don't want to just be a South African filmmaker, but a global artist who must expand her world view to create work that crosses boundaries.
Video diaries of the filmmakers
Watch the video diaries of the filmmakers prior to the film residency.
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