Directores | Quibdó África

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DIRECTORES

QAFF 2026

Ayana O'Shun Director / Canada Director, producer, and actress, Ayana O’Shun is a rising voice in Canadian auteur cinema, rooted in Quebec. Her work explores identity, transmission, and representation through intimate, character-driven storytelling, informed by her experience both in front of and behind the camera. In 2021, she was selected for the Berlinale Toolbox Program, an initiative of the Berlin International Film Festival supporting emerging filmmakers.	Pascal Frederic Archimede Director / Guadeloupe Pascal Archimède is a Guadeloupean creator, interviewer, and cultural storyteller whose work dives deep into the intersections of history, music, identity, and society. With a background in American civilization and education sciences, he blends intellectual insight with artistic sensitivity to amplify voices that are too often forgotten or overlooked.	Sienna McLean-LoGreco Director / United States She has a passion for sharing stories that both entertain and inspire - stories of people striving to make a difference in the world. She has earned credits as a writer and producer for HBO, Showtime, A+E, VH1, and Discovery, as well as branded content for Ridley Scott’s RSA films. Her first short film, Still Revolutionaries, premiered at Sundance Film Festival, was lauded at festivals worldwide and continues to be distributed internationally.
Wildson Borja Director / Colombia He has been creating images for magazines and books for more than ten years. In animation, he has collaborated as a concept artist and character designer for television and film projects.	Olayinka Eno Babalola Director / Nigeria Olayinka Eno Babalola is a filmmaker and visual artist exploring the world around her through the moving image Armed with a formal education in Visual Arts and an informal education in cinema from being a romance movie buff she approaches storytelling with a love for emotion and human connection, crafting films meant to resonate and move you.	Meji Alabi Director / United Kingdom Meji Alabi is a British-Nigerian filmmaker and director known for crafting visually powerful documentaries and culturally resonant storytelling. His work explores themes of identity, legacy, music, politics, and human resilience through a cinematic and emotionally grounded lens.
Sara J. Asprilla Director / Colombia Afro and queer. They are interested in exploring the interrelationship between cultural identity and gender from the margins of their territory.	Rickey Larke Director / United States Originally from Chicago, Rickey found his passion for creativity as a child while on summer trips visiting his mother's family in Panama. By high school Rickey was directing music videos on Chicago's South Side and as an undergrad at Bowdoin College (Brunswick, ME) Rickey balanced a double major in African-American Literature and Political Theory with his passion for film and his senior film, SURVIVIES was inducted into the Bowdoin College Historical Archive in 2016.	Milena Anjos Director / Brazil Milena Anjos holds a degree in Communication and Culture Production and in Journalism from the Federal University of Bahia, and is currently pursuing a postgraduate degree in Cultural Policy and Management at the Federal University of Recôncavo Baiano. She is a screenwriter and producer of the web series Punho Negro, which won the Best Original Idea award at Rio Webfest 2018. She is also a screenwriter for the series Casa da Vó and Eu, minha house e minha quebrada.
Marton Olympio Director / Brazil He is a director and screenwriter. He wrote the series Santo Forte, Natália, Cidade dos Homens, among others, the feature films Sequestro Relâmpago and Alemão 2, and directed the series A Dona da Banca and Passinho, no ritmo dos sonhos – Disney. He wrote and directed the short film Mergulho, which screened at festivals such as Festival do Rio, Encontro de Cinema Negro Zózimo Bulbul, and New York Indie Shorts Awards.	Reine Razzouk Director / Lebanon Reine Razzouk is a Lebanese filmmaker, screenwriter, and assistant director. She holds a bachelor's degree in audiovisual and a master's degree in cinema directing from ALBA – Académie Libanaise des Beaux-Arts in Beirut. Reine has worked on numerous major commercials and feature films with renowned directors such as Ziad Doueiri, Mira Nair, Abdelrahman Sissako, and Maryam Keshavarz.	Lucas Silva Director / Colombia Filmmaker and screenwriter. I am also a music producer and founder of the Palenque Records label. Most of my work is dedicated to Afro-Colombian culture and the African heritage in America. I have made a dozen documentaries, including “AMAPOLA: La Flor Maldita” (30', 1996) with filmmaker Marta Rodríguez, and “Los Reyes Criollos de la Champeta” (La Huit Production 1998, Colombian-French co-production), a musical documentary that revealed the Afro-Colombian genre of champeta.
Zamo Mkhwanazi Director / South Africa Zamo Mkhwanazi is a South African filmmaker born in Durban and raised in Umlazi. A graduate of the University of Cape Town, she is known for her lyrical, character-driven work that centers the lived experiences of everyday people caught in extraordinary circumstances. Her short film Philia marked her directorial debut in 2011. She followed this with The Call, which premiered at Clermont-Ferrand and screened at the Toronto International Film Festival.	Ramel Westry Director / United States Ramel Westry is a distinguished American film and TV director/producer with a rich background in the arts and early childhood education. Hailing from the vibrant streets of Harlem, New York, Ramel's journey into the world of entertainment was a path forged by his unwavering passion for creativity and nurturing young minds.	Verenice Benitez Director / Ecuador Studied Film Direction in Paris 8 University and a Master's degree in International Series Writing at Madrid Film Institute. She studied Fine Arts in Ecuador and in Cuba, music at the National Conservatory and professional clarinet studies.
Sol de Carvalho Director / Mozambique Sol de Carvalho was born in 1953 in Beira, Mozambique, studied at the Conservatório Nacional de Cinema in Lisbon and worked as a journalist, editor and photographer. Already during his studies in Portugal Sol de Carvalho was a political activist against the Salazar regime. On his return to Mozambique he joined the independence efforts of the FRELIMO and was nominated as the director of the Serviço Nacional da Rádio Moçambique.	Tainá Müller, Ísis Broken Directors / Brazil Ainá Müller is an actress, filmmaker, and journalist who graduated from PUC-RS. She began her career as an international model and, before dedicating herself fully to acting, worked as a reporter for MTV, where she was in charge of stories about music and behavior. Isis Broken is an actress and singer from Sergipe, great-granddaughter of a Lampião supporter and granddaughter of a repentista (improvisational poet), whose career combines music, acting, and activism.	Samuel Kay Forrest Director / Guinea-Bissau Samuel is an award winning filmmaker whose last film HipBeat was released by Amazon Prime and Mubi. During college he joined the Bush Theatre Company, followed by an invitation to join the renowned Royal Shakespeare Company. This is when his passion for directing manifested, having directed some of the theatre productions.
Jairo Garrido Director / Colombia Colombian director, producer, and documentary filmmaker, founder of Molécula Visual S.A.S. His work emerges from encounters with territories and communities, where the camera becomes a tool for preserving memory, making ancestral knowledge visible, and building narratives that engage with Colombia's identity and cultural diversity.	Raiza De La Hoz, Daniela Ponce Director / Colombia Rayza De La Hoz Pérez is an audiovisual director, cultural manager, and director of the Afro Mata 'e Pelo Foundation. Her work focuses on creating audiovisual and sound content that highlights the stories, memories, and identities of Afro-descendant communities in La Guajira.	Morad Mostafa Director / Egypt Morad Mostafa is an Egyptian Filmmaker born in Cairo in 1988. He worked on several independent films; and collaborated as an Executive Director on SOUAD, an official selection for the 2020 Cannes Film Festival and the 2020 Berlinale. An alumnus of the Berlinale Talents, Durban Talents, and Locarno Academy, Mostafa wrote and directed three short films, all of which were selected in Clermont-Ferrand over three consecutive years and were screened in more than 300 festivals.
Medhin Tewolde Director / Mexico Medhin Tewolde Serrano is Mexican- Eritrean and resides in Chiapas, Mexico. After training in documentary filmmaking, she became concerned with telling other people's stories. Since then, she has dedicated herself to facilitating participatory video processes and community communication initiatives.	Michael James Director / South Africa Michael is a Durban-based filmmaker, writer, academic, and artist passionate about storytelling that challenges historical narratives. He explores the intersection of myth and history through multiple mediums, using film, theatre, and academia to interrogate identity, race, gender, class, and faith.	Ernestina Miranda Director / Colombia Community leader in Palenque. Peasant and biocultural guardian. Co-founder of Madre Monte. Co-director of the short film Ngubá. Production assistant and visual and sound narrative storyteller. Manager in the safeguarding of cultural expressions in Palenque, especially the language and healing knowledge.
Mar Ajé Director / Colombia Born in Cba-Arg and has lived in the Colombian Caribbean for twelve years. Develops artistic and pedagogical processes related to memory, poetry, and narratives with a personal approach, with a central focus on the relationship with nature. Co-founder of Madre Monte.	Marvin Yamb Director / French Guiana After embarking on a career as a painter and visual artist while studying for his bachelor's and master's degrees in Foreign Literature and Civilization, he developed a passion for cinema and trained at EICAR in Paris to become a director. He graduated in 2016. He worked on film sets in the Île-de-France region, then returned to French Guiana to work as a caster and assistant director.	Laura Asprilla Director / Colombia Afro-Colombian film director, she was selected for Talents Berlinale Buenos Aires in 2023. In 2012, she won the visual and plastic arts residency scholarship from Idartes, and in 2018 she completed an artistic residency in France.
Johan R. Nayar Director / United Kingdom Johan Nayar is a British director and editor with roots in Guyana, Malaysia and India. The Banjo Boys will be his debut feature film, which is the progression from many years in the industry. Building on his experience making shorts, he made his first featurette in 2024.	Johanna Makabi Director / France Johanna Makabi is a director and producer, born in Paris with Senegalese and Congolese (DRC) origins. In 2017, she co-directed and produced her first documentary short film titled "Méduse, Afro Hair, and Other Myths." She also directed short films such as « Grace" (winner best short at Festival du film français de Aix), "Our Memory- Notre mémoire"(Atlanta Film festival, New-York African Film festival), "A Laundry day".	Jean-Gabriel Leynaud Director / France He began very young in film, while simultaneously pursuing a career as a camera assistant in fiction and a director of photography in documentary. At 19, he made his first film, Place de la République, in which he follows two young homeless drug addicts for a year.
Joan Lyiola Director / United Kingdom Joan Iyiola is a writer, actress, producer, and co-founder of Apatan Productions. Her first short DỌLÁPỌ̀ IS FINE (2020), which was the recipient of the HBO Short Film Award (2020), was one of ten longlisted for a BAFTA (2021), and has been screened at over 150+ festivals worldwide. DỌLÁPỌ̀ IS FINE has been acquired by Disney+, Netflix and HBO.	Hayden Mclean Director / United Kingdom British Actor/Writer/Filmmaker born and raised in London. Alumni of BRIT School. From a young age, he developed a passion for telling stories. Hayden desires to see soulful, redemptive, impactful black stories being brought to the forefront and shared boldly with the world.	Fagamou Fama Ndiaye Director / Senegal Fagamou Fama Ndiaye is a Senegalese filmmaker and film curator who explores new forms of creation and circulation for African cinema. She began her career coordinating the Postproduction School , the Yennenga Center founded by Alain Gomis in Dakar, while also directing institutional films for various Senegalese and international organizations.
Jorge Eliecer Leudo Murillo Director / Colombia He is a professional with experience in audiovisual production, strategic communication, directing, screenwriting, cinematography, and multimedia content creation. His work has been developed primarily in community, cultural, and social contexts, with a focus on making Afro-descendant communities visible, strengthening territorial identity, and building narratives from the Colombian Pacific region.	Desiree Mbakumua Meiffret Director / Namibia An award-winning producer/director from Namibia. Desiree's participation in the Namibian film and theatre industry spans over 12 years as a performer, actress, creative director as well as playwright. She produced, wrote and directed a theatre play titled A Lifetime of Blues that won best set design at the Namibian Film and Theatre Awards 2014.	Gustavo Fontele Dourado Director / Brazil Gustavo Fontele Dourado is a Brazilian filmmaker. He is one of the founders of Fontele Studios, a Brazilian multimedia company which produces movies, books and comics. Gustavo directed In Memoriam (2018) (Festival of Brasília, The Lift-Off Sessions) and Everyday Delusions (2023).
Day Sena Director / Brazil Day Sena is a filmmaker, production director, and executive producer. She has worked in the film industry since 2003, having started at a university TV station. She has won 2 awards at the Gramado Film Festival, 2 at Fest Aruanda, and 11 awards in Colombia for a feature film development project. She has now released her first feature-length documentary and her first fiction short film.	Gregory Robinson Director / Colombia Ethnic-Raizal Colombian Director, producer, screenwriter and cultural manager. Master’s in television, Film and New Media from the San Diego State University, California. Member of the Departmental Council of Film and Audiovisuals of San Andres Island, Colombia.	Florent Mahoukou Director / Congo He is an artist, dancer-performer, theatre performer, and choreographer, of Franco‑Congolese origin. At the age of 12, he created a dance group in the streets of Brazzaville called “BANA 16ème”. He discovered the Tambours de Brazza, which fuelled his desire to dance.
Emma Christopher, Sergio Leyva Seiglie Directors / Colombia Writer, documentary maker and professor of the African diaspora. She is the director, producer and researcher of They Are We, (New York: Icarus Film, 2014) which won six Best Documentary Awards. Sergio is a photographer and documentarian. His photographic work explores belongingness, identity, and the interplay between private and public memory. He was the production manager and photographer on They Are We.	Denis F. Miala Director/ Angola Angolan filmmaker and Mancha Negra Entertainment founder. He directed over 50 music videos (2004-2021) for Angolan artists and debuted with short Moça (2021), selected at Luxor African Film Festival, Panafrican Festival of Cannes, and winner in Angola.	David Bingong Director / Cameroon Born in Douala, Cameroon. A great enthusiast of the stage, he takes part in theatrical performances as a director and actor. He now lives in Madrid, where he completed Les Voyageurs, filmed between 2013 and 2015 while travelling through Africa on his way to Europe.
Cyrille Gueï Director / France He is a French actor, director, and screenwriter of Ivorian origin. A graduate of the National Conservatory of Dramatic Arts in Paris, he became known on the big screen through roles in films such as Brice de Nice and L'Autre.	Lilián Pallares Director / Spain Lilián Pallares and Charles Olsen form the creative duo antenablue ‘the observed word’. Their poetry films have been shown in international poetry film festivals and featured in online journals such as Moving Poems, Poetry Film Live, Atticus Review and blackmail press.	Charles Olsen Director / Spain Lilián Pallares and Charles Olsen form the creative duo antenablue ‘the observed word’. Their poetry films have been shown in international poetry film festivals and featured in online journals such as Moving Poems, Poetry Film Live, Atticus Review and blackmail press.
Adrián Villa-Dávila, Andrés Prado Directors / Colombia Tragaluz is a Colombian collective focused on documentary film and community-based audiovisual arts. Their work delves into memory, territory, and social processes through a poetic and collaborative lens.	Badewa Adeseye Ajibade Director / Nigeria Badewa Ajibade is a Nigerian film artist-researcher based in Montreal, Canada. Badewa was initially trained in filmmaking at the Toronto Film School in Toronto, Canada. He holds an MFA (Master of Fine Arts) in film production from Concordia University, Montreal, Canada, where he researched loss, the subconscious, and variations in African queer sexuality.	Bamar Kane Director / France Bamar KANE is a Senegalese actor, screenwriter and director. As an actor, he appears in the films Tirailleurs, Io Capitano, and Ni chaînes, ni maîtres, as well as in the series Le Monde de demain (Netflix), Deep (OCS Ciné+), and the British mini-series Eric (Netflix). A 2023 graduate of the Nouvelles Écritures screenwriting program, he is currently developing several short films, feature films and series projects.
David Antonio Diaz de la Rosa Director / Colombia David Antonio Díaz De La Rosa is a Colombian community leader, cultural manager, and emerging filmmaker from Becerril, Cesar. His work focuses on Afro-Colombian memory, oral traditions, cultural heritage, and community storytelling processes.	Carlo Liberatore Director / Italy Director, screenwriter and festival director. He graduated with honors from the "International Academy for the Arts and Sciences of the Image" founded by Vittorio Storaro. Since 2016 he has been artistic director of the Sulmona International Film Festival now in its 43rd edition.	Vítor Bitencourt Rocha Director / Brazil Vítor Rocha was born in Salvador, Brazil, and is a director, producer, screenwriter and editor. He is the head of the production companies Caranguejeira Filmes and Abará Filmes, where he is also responsible for distributing films for movie theaters and others.

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