Claude Bunny Massassa is a contemporary artist from Gabon. She created Bunny Studio in 2016, a start-up dedicated to photography production, which became DWABI Studio in 2021. As an artist, she has represented Gabon in many international exhibitions in Senegal, Uganda, France, the United States, and Italy. In her art, she denounces social stigmas around issues of identity and mental health, and explores themes of traditions and myths.
Executive Director Kimberly Aceves- Iñiguez has been passionately committed for over 20 years to social justice organizing and advocacy efforts that bring voice and power to youth, LGBTQ people, people of color, and working-class communities in the Bay Area. Before coming on as the Executive Director for RYSE, Kimberly served as the Executive Director for Youth Together, the founding organization of the RYSE Center.
Kanwarpal Dhaliwal is one of the co-founders of RYSE and currently acts as the Associate Director. She supports and guides the implementation and integration of healing-centered practices, grounded in racial justice and liberation, and also develops, promotes, and advocates for policies, investments, practices, and research that enliven healing, justice, and liberation. Kanwarpal believes that the purpose of her work and life is to contribute to movements, communities, and legacies of liberation that honor the ancestors who fought for her existence and survival, and to forge a world that is just and gentle for future generations.
Sagal Ali is the founder and executive director of SAF. After a few years in her career in heritage protection in the cultural sector, she decided to develop the initiative to directly support young creatives in Somalia by launching her own foundation. She hopes to bridge the social gaps and inequalities women face in Somalia, both in society and in the arts scene.
Co-founders Catherine Dunga and Marleen Palmaers created Kitambo to bridge the gap between the African diaspora in Colombia and the narratives from the continent. From Kinshasa and Antwerp respectively, they work to connect African artists from the continent and their peers from the Colombian diaspora.
Martha Kazungu is a curator, art Historian and Founder of Njabala Foundation, an organization that curates periodic exhibitions and organizes a public program of activities to create a safe space for female artists to thrive and blossom.
Alicia Hansen is a photographer and teacher from New York. She founded NYC SALT in 2008 and, beyond teaching valuable creative skills to her students, has developed a long-term support system to uplift them through school and into their early artistic careers.
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“Djin is the name of a spirit that’s in a wind that is totally made up. It blows every 30 years and it selects people, nobody knows why or who, and it blows out whatever uncertainty that person has about whatever it is they consciously or subconsciously care about the most, leaving them compelled to take action.”
Hawa Essuman, on her film Djin.
On 19 October, 2012, the competition jury of Nigerian director Newton I. Aduaka and Southafrican producer Steven Markovitz selected Djin by Hawa Essuman as the winner of a fund provided by lettera27.
The Director’s Eye has the additional objective to undertake alternative funding strategies for film production, modeled on established international festivals, and to implement new tools such as crowdfunding campaigns activated and promoted on social media.
In fact, in recent years, many film projects – in some cases low budget – were made possible thanks to the participation and support of thousands of people who, with their direct contribution, have become part of a co-production community.
Summary
Advisor
Mane Cisneros
Curator
Vanessa Lanari
In partnership with
African Film Festival of Cordoba
Colophon
Interview with Hawa Essuman, Trailer on YouTube
Interview with Hawa Essuman, Crowdfunding and Audience on YouTube
Interview with Hawa Essuman, Treatment and Production on YouTube
Interview with Hawa Essuman, The Fund on YouTube
Interview with Hawa Essuman, Writing on YouTube
Interview with Hawa Essuman, Location on YouTube
Interview with Hawa Essuman, The Project on YouTube
