MEET THE 2025/2026 KICKSTARTER COHORT

MEET THE KICKSTARTER FELLOWS

// Dorine Were KENYA

Dorine Were is a freshwater ecologist from Kenya with a passion for bridging science and storytelling. With a background in aquatic research and environmental stewardship, Dorine is driven by a deep commitment to freshwater conservation. She believes that science should be accessible to all not just through academic publications, but through powerful visuals and narratives that resonate with communities at every literacy level. Through the NEWF Story Labs, she hopes to transform scientific findings into compelling visual stories that inspire action and empower local communities to protect and restore their freshwater ecosystems.

// Eystein Young Dingha Cameroon

Eystein Young Dingha is a Cameroonian writer, producer, director of The Planters Plantation, Cameroon’s preselected film at the 95th Oscars and won the prestigious Ousmane Sembene special prize and the Ecobank Award for a movie on Equal Rights for Women and girls at FESPACO 2023. He wrote Hidden Dreams which was also Cameroon’s Official Submission to the 94th Oscars. He was one of the Selectees for the 2018 STEPS “Generation Africa” collective, directing his first Documentary Clando showing on AFRIDOCS, Arte France, Arte Germany. Participated on multiple courses on writing, directing, editing producing and impact production under Generation Africa and the Durban Film Festival. In 2024 he was winner of the NEWF x AFRIFF13 producers pitch in Lagos .

// Ghofrane Labyedh tunisia

Ghofrane Labyedh is a marine biologist, ocean conservationist, and a 2024 National Geographic Explorer based in Kribi, Cameroon. She leads the Shark and Ray Program at the African Marine Mammal Conservation Organisation (AMMCO), focusing on the research and protection of threatened elasmobranch species. Originally from Tunisia, her passion for the ocean began at 18 while volunteering with sea turtle monitoring on the remote Kuriat Islands. In 2019, she completed an internship with AMMCO, using fisher-reported data to study shark and ray landings—research that later became the focus of her master’s thesis. Since 2021, she has secured Rufford Foundation grants to support shark and ray conservation in Cameroon.

// Gwantwa Lucas Mwakalinga Tanzania

Gwantwa is a Tanzanian filmmaker, writer, and aspiring creative producer passionate about telling powerful nature and science stories rooted in African realities. With a background in both film and animation, she brings a unique visual and narrative approach to storytelling, blending factual depth with emotional resonance. Her work captures the beauty of the natural world, the ingenuity of local communities. Through bold and meaningful stories, Gwantwa aims to amplify African voices and perspectives on global platforms, inspiring curiosity, understanding, and action.

// Nada Abdelkader Tunisia

Nada Abdelkader is a Tunisian PhD student in marine ecology, a scientific diver, and a storyteller. Her research focuses on restoring seagrass meadows in Tunisia using nature-based solutions. She works closely with local communities, NGOs, and government partners to combine science with traditional knowledge in marine restoration efforts. She has led projects on marine biodiversity for the Association Tunisienne de Taxonomie (ATUTAX), and develops educational programs for children including leading scientific camps focused on marine biology and conservation with her team. Her recent OceanX expedition helped her grow not only as a scientist and communicator. Through this experience, she explored new ways of using media and extended reality (XR) technologies to tell ocean stories and make science more engaging. In addition to her scientific work, Nada is starting her journey as a documentary filmmaker.

// Ridwan Adeniyi Abdullateef Nigeria

Ridwan Adeniyi Abdullateef is a Nigerian filmmaker, visual artist, and multidisciplinary storyteller whose work blends film, photography, movement, and writing to explore Africa’s cultural memory, ecological struggles, and untold human stories. He produced and directed Tomorrow Unlocked for Kaspersky, a global documentary series that amplifies stories of innovation, resilience, and the human future. In 2020, Ridwan worked alongside Morgan Freeman to produce the short film Ogun Óla: War is Coming—a mythological sci-fi story. The film’s bold vision and cultural grounding positioned Ridwan as a creative force unafraid to merge African storytelling with genre cinema. In 2024, Ridwan’s short documentary KADA earned him the prestigious NEWF x AFRIFF Producers Lab Award. Ridwan remains committed to telling authentic, urgent, and visionary African stories—bridging tradition and innovation to shape narratives that matter both locally and globally.

// Dr. Teresa Mbatia KENYA

Dr. Teresa Mbatia is a Kenyan urban planner, researcher and environmental strategist working at the intersection of sustainable cities, community stewardship, and environmental justice. With over a decade of experience in academic supervision, urban research, and public policy development, she brings a uniquely Afrocentric lens to climate resilience, citizen engagement, and inclusive urban transformation. Her work on City Park Forest in Nairobi explores the socio-ecological tensions within urban green spaces — this research is now the foundation of her upcoming short film, supported by the NEWF, which uses creative storytelling to spotlight hidden labor, ecological memory, and the fight to protect green heritage in African cities. Through her writing, research, and film, she is committed to reshaping how we think about cities — not just as spaces of development, but as living, breathing ecosystems rooted in people’s stories.