Bijou Festival Filmmakers 2025
Kelly Hamlin is a native of Richmond VA, began performing as a youth competitive dancer. Over the course of her training Kelly has also studied at The Dance Theatre of Harlem, Ballet Hispanico, Broadway Dance Center and The Alvin Ailey School. Having spent 13 years in New York as a professional dancer, Kelly has performed works by Alvin Ailey at City Center & The Apollo Theater. She has also performed with The Nai Ni Chen Dance Company, Errol Grimes Dance Group, Genesis Dance, Jennifer Archibald/Arch Dance Co., Earl Mosley, Milton Myers, M'bewe Escobar, Stephen Contreras/SDance, The Riverbank Dance Collective and JP Dance Group.
Anniwaa Buachie is an award-winning Ghanaian-British actress and multi-hyphenate known for her powerful storytelling across film, TV, and audio. She starred in the BBC’s Phoenix Rise and won an AudioFile Earphones Award for narrating The Teller of Secrets by Bisi Adjapon. Her voice work includes major animation projects like Archer and Marvel’s X-Men '97, and she has appeared on U.S. platforms such as STARZ. In 2022, she won Best Lead Actor at Australia’s Short + Sweet Film Festival. Anniwaa was the founder and artistic director of Golden Delilah, a UK theatre company focused on bold, black female-led stories.
Lukman Abiose is a multi-talented scholar, playwright, screenwriter, movie producer, director, actor, theatre critic, poet, novelist, creative writer, creative director, theatre experimentalist, theatre historian, motivational, social activist, political analyst, social commentator and journalistic writer with international partners in the Hollywood and British Film Industry.
Lukeman directs this narrative short about an autistic girl finds herself in a toxic and unabling self-centric environment. Her only hope is for her ingenious fine art talent to launch her to stardom.
Joy Don’Kell Deas directed this global exploration of the cultural and social significance of hair within the Black diaspora.
Through a personal lens, the journalist investigates racialization and discrimination of Black hair through ethnographic research in beauty salons in four global cities: Atlanta, Brooklyn, London, and Cape Town.
Richard Mugwaneza is a Rwandan filmmaker based in Montreal, crafting powerful narratives for the past 15 years. An alumnus of L’INIS, Berlinale Talents, and Durban Talents, he was mentored by director Lee Isaac Chung. His films, including Nota Bene, Chora-Chora, Dream Stage, and Neo Ancienne, have been showcased at prestigious festivals worldwide, earning multiple accolades. He is currently developing his first feature film, Muntu, while also leading Briday, a company specializing in wedding films.
Andrew Boateng is a multi-award-winning British-Ghanaian screenwriter and filmmaker, whose work explores themes of social commentary, identity, belonging, grief, and resilience through emotionally charged and culturally grounded storytelling. He is the screenwriter of Tribal Mark — the acclaimed 2024 short film directed by Skepta and Hector Dockrill — which won the Audience Choice Award at the African Film Festival and received widespread praise for its bold narrative and powerful cinematic vision.
Daya is an afro surrealist artist, with a mother from Acre and a father from Bahia, she was born from their exodus in the outskirts of Sao Paulo’s east side, in the neighbourhood of Sapopemba, Brazil. In her work, she drifts between cinema, music videos and publicity, working with black positivity, dramedy, magic realism, poetry and utopia in connection with nature and the world. She experiments with diverse techniques and her influences come from different artistic expressions she grew up practicing, such as drawing, dancing, painting and studying art. Later, photography and cinema came into the mix, and she makes use of all these tools to assemble her movies.
Dr Karmen Smith is a mental health therapist, metaphysical minister and author of the book The "I AM" SOLUTION- Simple Practices to Transform Fear back to LOVE. With over 30 years of experience as a trauma therapist, she combines shamanism and the embodiment of divine energy for healing.
Dr. Smith provides a safe and compassionate space along your spiritual journey. Her teachings are easy to understand and encourage spiritual practices that support your inner growth.
Manock Lual is a filmmaker, community leader, and founder of Prezdential, a youth-focused organization dedicated to holistic development through sport, storytelling, and mentorship. With a deep passion for amplifying underrepresented voices, Manock uses film as a tool to explore themes of identity, fatherhood, trauma, and healing within the BIPOC community. Couch Potato marks his directorial debut a deeply personal project that reflects his commitment to authentic storytelling and social impact. Through his work, Manock continues to bridge art and advocacy, creating space for reflection, dialogue, and change.
Jameelah Houston is a filmmaker, storyteller, and cultural advocate from the South Side of Chicago. She is currently pursuing her master’s degree in Independent Film & Digital Imaging at Governors State University, where she is honing her craft in directing and visual storytelling. Houston made her directorial debut with 'Birthday Jay' (2024), a short film that celebrates Black joy and community. She served as Assistant Director on 'Life in My Eyes' (2024), which won at the Black Harvest Film Festival. Her work is deeply rooted in exploring identity, resilience, and the intersections of race, culture, and individuality.
Ibinabo Fortune directs this experimental short that suggests “The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched - they must be felt with the heart.” His character travels between realms of consciousness, explores grief and the lines between life and afterlife, while immersed in the natural world. What does it mean to be in a dream state? Does what you see there carry over into your life? How do we explore messages that come to us through mysteries?
Sara Jordan is a choreographer, director, and cinematographer working at the intersection of movement, image, and identity. Her artistic language is rooted in street dance styles such as hip hop and house, woven with African-American cultural influences and shaped by a minimalist choreographic aesthetic. She is an all-round dancer, but her first love has always been old school hip hop foundations and house dance. Starting out in the freestyle and battle communities across Europe, Sara began her journey in 1998 in Copenhagen and has since lived and worked as a dancer in both Los Angeles and London.
Molefi Moses Molefe is a filmmaker with a Bachelor of Arts in Motion Picture Medium from AFDA Botswana, specializing as a screenwriter and director. He believes in the power of filmmaking to influence positive societal change. Molefi has contributed to the production of several television dramas, including Being Iponeng Season 1 for Now TV and Botshelo Jo Season 3 for BTV (Botswana Television), where he worked as a first assistant director.
Francis Prince is a passionate writer/director who approaches his films with an air of dark curiosity and poetic irony. His work is heavily inspired by low budget cult films, internet subcultures and his relationship with spirituality. The Dallas native uses visual and performance arts to challenge ideas of linear BME storytelling. His id lies in representing an unrepresented Americana from the perspective of being black, queer and raised online.
Ali Kisitu is a 27-year-old Ugandan film enthusiast born in Luwero with an extraordinary love of visual effects and 3d computer generated imagery. I have an urge to expand the Ugandan film market to the youths with exciting action and adventurous films. Currently working on a COMEDY ANTHOLOGY , THE OPEN LOOP made of 6 short films with a couple of interesting social, intellect, economic, political and creative themes.
Mantile M Mashish is a young hardworking individual, she has the ability to work with people of various ages and levels. Mantile also able work under pressure, independently and in a team. She is very professional, organized, pays attention to detail, technology savvy, able to work efficiently under pressure, and is always punctual. Mantile plans and follows through projects, she also is very analytical and outstanding multilingual communicator (fluent in English, Afrikaans, Setswana, Zulu and Venda) with sound conflict management skills.
Ousmane HANNE and Modou DIENG from Senegal directed Entre Sortie a film that suggests “Nothing is more uncertain than a life we hang on circumstances whose ins and outs escape our will. From life to death, from dawn to dusk, could life be a race with an uncertain and unpredictable outcome? Regardless of our age or social status, we navigate through situations shaped by the environment in which we exist. 'In-Out' is the mirror that reflects the daily life of man.”
Rosa Fernanda Vidal is from Brazil. She has a degree in Cinema and Audiovisual (UFPE), and is currently studying for a master's degree in Communication at the same institution. She made her debut as a screenwriter and director in the short film "Milkshake" (2023). She is currently distributing the short film "As Musas" (2024), where she wrote and directed the script, and is developing her first feature film "Noite de Amolar as Facas", where she wrote and directed the script.
Seydina Mouhamed Ndiaye directed this narrative short where Xalil and Yamis, a couple bound by years of love, see their world shattered by the tragic loss of their only daughter. The accident that took her away leaves behind an immense void — a silence so heavy, it almost screams. Since that day, Xalil has withdrawn into himself. Once vibrant and full of life, he has become cold and distant — especially toward Yamis. As if grief had frozen him from the inside.With tenderness, patience, and sometimes confrontation, she tries to pierce the ice. To reignite the light in Xalil’s eyes.
Tamara Williams directed this lush film which is an investigation of the influences of ritual, nature and place in Black women’s traditional practices to care for community. The film will consist of 4 dancers that take the audience through a journey of movement gestures and situations that narrate how water is used to heal, elements of the earth are used to cleanse, and wind is used to transform in sacred traditions of the Black women in the south. The film features traditional songs and spirituals, speak to the power of water in nature and Yorùbá songs that connect the relationship of women and fresh waters.
SHITTU OPEYEMI ABDULAFIZ directed this poignant documentary The Grief. This film dives deep into the heart of loss, exploring the raw, real experiences of those navigating grief, and finding paths towards healing. Join us as we uncover the shared human experience of sorrow and discover that even in darkness, hope persists. Prepare for an emotional journey. This documentary delves into the depths of grief, capturing the raw vulnerability and unexpected strength of those who have experienced profound loss.
Agnes Aguirre directed this wonderful narrative short called If Words Fail Us, The Sea Tells Our Story. On a beach in Salvador, two Black women, Joana, a mature woman who has seen much in life, and Yara, a young woman at the beginning of her journey, meet to share their experiences.
Two women connected by the strength of the sea.
Deco Machado is a filmmaker and visual artist born in the Quilombola Community of Caçandoca, on the coast of Ubatuba, São Paulo, Brazil. His work emerges from a deep connection between quilombola and caiçara cultures, blending ancestral memory with contemporary visual storytelling. With a degree in Photography from Senac São Paulo and in Filmmaking from AIC (Academia Internacional de Cinema), Deco creates poetic, contemplative, and sensorial narratives that center Black lives, environmental consciousness, and collective memory. His films and photographs explore identity, belonging, and the subtle, organic relationship between people and nature.
Oliur Rahman and Henry Egware directed OOMPH - a tale of strength and resilience. It's the story of the contrasting roles looted Benin Art plays across cultural divides of the West versus the people of Benin. It is told through the lenses of Prof Peju Layiwola a descendant of Oba Ovaramwen Nogbaisi who ruled over Benin during the British Punitive Expedition of 1897. It chronicles the pains of mass murder, the theft of cultural heritage items, and the agitations of Orientalism.
Experience the Oomph!