Dara Kell – Co-Director – is an award-winning South African filmmaker and editor. Born and raised during apartheid South Africa, she came of age as South Africa transitioned from the old regime to the new. Her vivid impressions of this time, embodied by the country’s first democratic elections in 1994, have since guided her filmmaking work. She is a recipient of Participant Media’s ‘Outstanding Filmmaker’ award, representing Africa. She co-edited The Reckoning’ which recently premiered in competition at Sundance 2009, and was additional editor on Academy Award-nominated ‘Jesus Camp’. She edited Courting Justice (distributed by Women Make Movies) which profiles five indomitable female judges committed to enacting transitional justice in South Africa, and was a field producer for ‘Human Rights, Human Needs’ for Amnesty International, in collaboration with Skylight Pictures. She studied Journalism at Rhodes University, South Africa, where she received the Frank Rostron bursary for Excellence in Journalism. Her short documentary ‘Indlini Yam’ (In My House) about motherhood and AIDS won the Dolphin Award for Best Documentary. ‘Dear Mandela’ is a deeply personal project motivated by many years of research, deep reflection and grassroots political work with social movements both in South Africa and the United States.
Christopher Nizza – Co-Director/Editor – is a New York City born, bred and based filmmaker and editor. Nizza is a versatile and accomplished editor of multiple award-winning commercials, music videos, documentaries and Emmy-winning TV programs (Hollywood DC, Ironman, Dakar Rally, Iditarod). He has edited programming for most of the major networks and cable channels, including NBC, CBS, ABC, ESPN, Discovery, PBS and A&E. He is a founding member of the Media College of the University of the Poor, a project dedicated to using video and new technologies as a key component of a broad movement to end poverty. With Dara Kell, he has worked with the University of the Poor for the past 5 years, designing and leading workshops to encourage young community leaders to make their own media. Several short documentaries emerged from these collaborative projects including ‘Crisis USA’, about healthcare in Atlantic City, and ‘Learning as we Lead’, about an incredible leadership school for low-income organizers across the US.
Matthew Peterson – Director of Photography – is a multiple Emmy Award-winning cinematographer and winner of Australia’s top cinematography award, the Golden Tripod. His most recent assignments include the Beijing Olympics, Tour de France and the Ironman World Championships filmed in Hawaii. He has worked in some of the most rugged conditions in the world – from Alaska’s Yukon to the Sahara desert. Peterson specializes in high definition Panasonic VariCam and is at the cutting edge of high-end digital cinema. From the Red Camera to 16-mm film cameras, Peterson’s wealth of experience with creative rigging, car mounts and helicopter rigs make him one of the most sought-after cinematographers in the sports world. Peterson is also an accomplished still photographer. His solo photographic exhibitions snap [NYC] and snap [POSTCARDS] featured Matt’s exquisite photos of exotic locations and included stunning portraitures of Ringo Starr and Kelly Slater.
Tina Brown – Co-Producer – is a Vietnam-born, New York-based producer who devised film marketing and PR campaigns for most of the major and independent studios – Paramount, Universal, MGM, DreamWorks and Miramax. She was Editor of an Australian magazine focused on positive media and promoting awareness of global issues, before working at the Starlight Foundation to raise funds to grant wishes for terminally ill children. She has interviewed dozens of world changers and artists, including Nobel Peace Prize winner Wangari Maathai, Actor Don Cheadle and the late South African musician Miriam Makeba.
Shivaani Selvaraj – Community Outreach Director – ran the Philadelphia Independent Film and Video Center, the main clearinghouse for filmmakers in Philadelphia; organized the Break the Media Blackout conference, which brought together media makers, artists, grassroots leaders, and media democracy activists; and most recently was head of a national program called the Media Empowerment Project (MEP), which is seeding locally-driven, innovative strategies for marginalized communities to secure the human right to communication. Producing a film in South Africa fulfills a long time dream to explore the social movements there and the complex and at times pivotal role that South Asians have played in South Africa’s past and present.
Our Board of Advisors includes Pamela Yates of Skylight Pictures; Willie Baptist, resident scholar of the Poverty Initiative and recent recipient of the Educating for Justice Award from the Bread and Roses Community Fund; and Richard Pithouse, former research fellow at the Centre for Civil Society at the University of KwaZulu-Natal in Durban, South Africa.
OUTREACH PARTNERS
…coming soon
