Simon Bright and Ingrid Sinclair
Until 2003, producer Simon Bright and director Ingrid Sinclair lived and worked in Harare, Zimbabwe, where they founded Zimmedia Film and Video production company and were founder members of the Southern African Film Festival. Between them they have made a range of films that tell stories of southern African popular culture, politics, social issues, and history (e.g., Flame, Tides of Gold, From the Shade into the Sun, and Mbira Music: Spirit of the People). Whilst living in Zimbabwe they often showed their work at the great FESPACO (Festival Panafricain du Cinéma et de la Télévision de Ouagadougou) in Burkina Faso, but for now they channel their experience of film festivals as founders and principal coordinators of Afrika Eye in Bristol, UK.
Forward Maisokwadzo
Forward Maisokwadzo is, among other things, a journalist and researcher from Zimbabwe. Currently based in Bristol, he is deeply involved with the local community. He works part-time as a development worker for both Bristol: City of Sanctuary and the Southern Africa Resources Centre, which administers the twinning link between Bristol and Beira, Mozambique. Forward also works as a research consultant for the Bristol Multi-Faith Forum, who are currently carrying out a faith audit in Bristol.
Outside of Bristol, Forward is ex-coordinator of the Exiled Journalists’ Network and communications officer of the MediaWise Refugees, Asylum Seekers and Media project. He has worked for the Zimbabwe Independent and has freelanced for the Sunday Times, Guardian, South African Sunday Times, and Voice of America. Forwards is also in the final year of writing a PhD thesis on ‘The Notion of Framing HIV by the Zimbabwean and UK Press.’Forward is chairman of the Bristol Zimbabwe Association, a community with the collective aims of raising awareness about the state of affairs in Zimbabwe, preserving and promoting Zimbabwean culture, and providing support for Zimbabweans both in the UK and in their home country. As a member of the Board, Forward has helped to provide a stronger link with the African Voices Forum, of which the Bristol Zimbabwe Association is a registered member.
Louise Lynas
Louise Lynas is production manager and company director of Firstborn Creatives, who work with young people, educational institutions, community organisations and broadcasters to produce creative and challenging media projects. She has long had an interest in the arts, with master's degrees in both Fine Art and Art Therapy and teaching experience as a visiting lecturer at various American institutions. In recent years she has worked extensively in event management, helping organise well-known festivals and cultural events, including WOMAD, the Bristol St. Paul's Carnival, Shambhala Festival, and Tribe of Doris. She is currently an integral member of the team at The Spark, a region-wide magazine based in Bristol looking at life alternatives. Louise lives in Montpelier, in the heart of Bristol, and is very much part of her local community.Siobhan Kierans
Siobhan Kierans co-founded Tribe of Doris, the intercultural arts organisation, in 1991 whilst completing a degree in Visual Anthropology at Bristol Polytechnic. She went on to study documentary film-making at the Northern Media School. She has lived in Egypt and has a thirty year-long relationship with Morocco, as well as having travelled in many other countries worldwide. As artistic director of Tribe of Doris she co-runs an annual intercultural summer school that works with artists, teachers, and musicians from all over the world. She has also set up several community businesses.
Jessica Zausmer
Jean Landry
Maia Williams
Alex MacMillan
