Tag Archives: Africa No Filter

ANF names Storytellers Fund recipients

Africa No Filter (ANF), a non-profit organisation supporting the development of stories challenging stereotypes about Africa, has revealed 11 emerging and mid-career artists to receive support from the Kekere Storytellers Fund.

The Kekere Storytellers Fund pays micro-grants to content creators, wordsmiths, performance artists, visual artists and journalists to create and publish unique and compelling content that shifts prevailing stereotypical narratives about their communities or subject.

These creatives have won micro-grants worth between US$500 and US$2,000 to work on projects that embody their experiences of Africa and being African, representing originality, freedom, creativity and innovation.

They include CEO and founder of the World Refugee Film Academy Cedric Bichano-Isingiro from Uganda; creator of YouTube series This is Uganda Nadia Matovu; founder of the Animated Animation Festival in Cairo Youhana Nassif; computer animator and 3D artist Ambassadeur from Rwanda; and Cameroonian scriptwriter, film producer and CEO of Mbisah Studios Eveline Mbisah.

Also among them are South African actress Cheraé Halley; South African author of a vegan food blog Anda Mtshelma; Zimbabwean artist Erhuardt Muchemwa; Nigerian editor and journalist Chisom Job; co-founder of Drum Circle Sudan Salma Mahmoud; and Kasiva Mutua, founder of Motramusic, the first all-female percussion collective in Kenya.

Jessica Hagan, arts and culture programme lead at ANF, said: “Our mission for Kekere is clear and remains the same: to empower African on-the-ground storytellers through funding and other support. Once again, we were looking for innovative, passionate storytellers with fantastic projects that showcased Africans and the continent in an interesting and refreshing way.”

“Our first cohort of Kekere grantees introduced us to the wonderful world of young, often unsupported African storytellers,” added Natasha Kimani, media and research lead at ANF.

“This has inspired us to focus even more on trying to amplify storytellers and content creators who rarely have access to opportunities. We hope that this investment will be the beginning of more diverse and nuanced stories and partnerships across the continent.”

The Kekere Storytellers Fund was launched in November 2020 as part of ANF’s way of disrupting traditional funding by ensuring that no voice remains unheard and also ensuring that funding, which is limited and rarely accessed by up-and-coming storytellers, reaches everyone with a compelling story to tell.

tagged in: , , ,

African creatives join ANF Fellows scheme

Members of ANF’s Emerging Artists Fellows programme

Africa No Filter (ANF), a non-profit organisation that supports the development of stories that try to change stereotypes about Africa, has selected 11 emerging artists to be part of its Emerging Artists Fellows programme.

Among them are Cameroonian actress and filmmaker Stella Tchuisse; Ghanaian filmmaker Prince Ardayfio, who works with traditional film and virtual reality; and award-winning Kenyan filmmaker, producer and media strategist Dylan Habil.

The list also includes Ghislain Mahoutondji Kinmagbo, a self-taught visual artist from Benin; Ivorian digital artist O’Plérou Grebet; self-taught Nigerian photographer and painter Haneefah Adam; visual artist Mpho Ts’uene; multidisciplinary artist Baingor Joiner; Zimbabwean artist Progress Nyandoro; Kenyan visual artist Katanu Sanna; and Cape Verdean artist Yuran Henrique.

Together, they are to produce career-defining projects in 12 months and will be mentored by Ghanaian TV producer Nicole Amarteifio, Senegalese-American journalist and podcaster Selly Thiam, Gambian playwright and director Maïmouna Jallow, Nigerian writer and editor Bukola Oyebode, and Teesa Bahana, director of Uganda-based art trust 32° East.

The 11 will get funding to help develop and produce their projects as well as mentorship and opportunities for networking and collaborations.

Habil, for example, is developing an animated documentary series called Mizizi, a contemporary take on African folktales; while Kinmagbo is producing a short animated film about a teenage girl passionate about living in a world where creativity is a way of life.

Moky Makura, exec director at Africa No Filter, said: “Creativity and art, in general, are powerful tools in creating and presenting relevant narratives about the African continent. We created the Emerging Artists Fellows programme to offer storytellers an opportunity to experiment with ideas and creative methodologies that they’ll be able to reuse for the rest of their careers. The programme will offer them the time, space and development needed to take their careers to the next level.

“They’ll produce films, installations, painting, a novel, a cookbook, multimedia essays, digital art and even emojis. Their work will explore identity, spirituality, landscape, women in leadership, oral traditions, representation, food and resilience. While the projects and artists are as diverse as Africa, they all have three things in common: innovation, creativity and telling an alternative story of Africa.”

“We also wanted highly motivated artists who are intentional about their art practice and put deliberate and consistent efforts towards creating,” added Essé Dabla-Attikpo, ANF’s programme facilitator.

ANF is funded by the Ford Foundation, Bloomberg, the Andrew W Mellon Foundation, Luminate, Open Society Foundations, Comic Relief, the Hilton Foundation, the British Council and the Hewlett Foundation.

tagged in: , ,