Have you refocused your lens?
What comes to mind when you envision a group of divers exploring the southern tips kelp forests, restoring East Africa’s coral reefs or filming wildlife in warm and wild forest and plains across the continent? What do filmmakers, scientists, innovators and conservation heroes look like, sound like, and dress like?
Africa Refocused is built on a bold theory of change:
When talented and diverse African storytellers receive the training, mentorship, connections, and access they need to advance their skills and careers, they become leaders in wildlife and natural history storytelling. Their voices add vital perspectives to the global conservation narrative, helping to protect Africa’s wildlife for generations to come.
Our Story Arc is a collection of stories that amplify, and powerfully celebrate just a fraction of the trailblazing, compelling, complex, funny, hopeful, nuanced, inspiring, passionate and hard-fought journeys of African storytellers, conservationists and scientists in the NEWF community - on and off continent.
Through these stories, we celebrate our collective agency, and seek to share the value of community-centric impact through warm, thought-provoking narratives that highlight the richly diverse cultures, multidisciplinary talent and Indigenous knowledge systems that play a significant role in the preservation of our wild spaces, species and the communities that coexist with them.
A DIVE INTO TANZANIAN WATERS
Diving. A word that seems very foreign to a number of Tanzanians, particularly those on the mainland. The first reaction of many when I told them I was going to film two young Tanzanian men learning how to dive was “Tanzanians diving? How and why?”
Compose Yourself!
I'm not a musician but I have been through the musical training ground of at least 80% of the world’s most famous musicians - the church band! I got over my imposter syndrome by remembering that as a storyteller, I have often needed the help of music and sound to say what my visuals and my words could not say.
A Score of African Strings and Beats
An African orchestra is at play on the coast of St Lucia. Overlooking the lush green coastal Isimangaliso Marine park, a group of selected African performers have come together to create a fusion of African sounds to ignite composition and musical scoring for film and trailer soundtracks.
How Deep is Your Pinnacle?
The initial shock of being in the pool for three days straight is only starting to wear off when the ladies are told to mentally prepare for their first open dive. A collective sigh and groan can be heard echoing, the anxiousness of being in the open water is shared amongst most.
The Sisterhood of the Travelling Fins
Vividly, I remember the night before April 8th 2021. My stomach was in knots and my teeth were locked in anxiety - too wound up to sleep but too exhausted to engage with anything but my thoughts. April 8th would mark the day I would meet 9 phenomenal women from around the continent who themselves had struggled with mixed feelings the night before.