The Ladima Foundation, a Pan-African non-profit organization dedicated to supporting and promoting women in the film and TV industries is proud to announce the appointment of its high-profile Advisory Board that made up of a host of well-respected film and TV professionals across the globe.
The appointed professionals that made up the Advisory Board includes, Nse Ikpe-Etim (Nigeria); Biola Alabi (Nigeria); Themba Bhebhe (South Africa/Germany); Bikiya Graham-Douglas (Nigeria); Catherine Gitahi (Kenya); Charlotte Giese (Denmark);); Fibby Kioria (Kenya); Elias Ribeiro (South Africa); Monica Rorvik: (South Africa) and Debra Zimmerman (USA).
According to the press release issued out by the foundation on 30th July, 2019, CEOAFRICA learnt that, the Advisory Board of the Ladima Foundation will provide critical guidance on the policy, direction, and priorities of the organization and lend their reputational and network support in order to ensure the success of the organization.
In his words about the newly appointed board, the Ladima Foundation co-founder, Edima Otuokon said, “We are overwhelmed with the enthusiastic and unanimously positive response from all of the professionals invited to be on the Ladima Foundation Advisory Board. We have only the utmost respect for all of the individuals on the Board and we are excited ahead of our first meeting with the new Board. We believe that with the support of this talented group of industry professionals, the Ladima Foundation will be able to achieve our goals of empowering and developing women in the industry”.
The Ladima Foundation is a Pan-African non-profit organization founded with the aim of contributing to correcting the major imbalances within the industry. Ladima aims to support women in a variety of roles within filmmaking, video production and related content development, through a range of projects and interventions.
The details of the professionals appointed by the Ladima Foundation for the Advisory Board according to the PRESS RELEASE are as follow;
Biola Alabi (Nigeria)
She is an award-winning filmmaker, entrepreneur, investor, public speaker, and television anchor. The media icon heads Biola Alabi Media a fast growing media company dedicated to telling authentic African stories to the world.
Biola is the Executive Producer of the award winning films: Lara and the Beat (2018), a coming of age film; as well as 2017 Nollywood blockbuster, Banana Island Ghost (B.I.G). She is also the Executive producer of Nigeria’s no.1 food travel documentary-series “Bukas and Joints” currently airing across Africa and in the UK. As part of her dream in evolving Biola Alabi Media into a 360-degree entertainment company, she delved into book publishing with the release of a young adult novella titled ‘The Adventures of Lara and Dara’. She is also the founder of “Grooming for Greatness”, a leadership development and mentorship program for a new generation for African leaders and a Non- Executive Director of Unilever Nigeria.
She was named as one of the 20 Youngest Powerful Women in Africa by Forbes Magazine, a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader and CNBC Africa’s AABLA West African Business Woman of the Year (2013). For over five highly successful years, Biola Alabi held the high-profile position of Managing Director for M-Net Africa, part of the globally renowned Naspers Group.
Prior to this, she was based in the United States where she was part of the executive team at the influential children’s television brand Sesame Street.
Themba Bhebhe (South Africa / Germany)
After working for almost a decade in international film sales, Themba has been in charge of Diversity & Inclusion at the last two editions of the European Film Market (Berlinale). Themba is also one of the founding members of the Programmers of Colour Collective (POC2) that aims at creating a conversation around and working towards a more diverse and inclusive programming pool at international film festivals through research, awareness events, networking, profile raising, mentoring and shadowing.
Catherine Gitahi (Kenya)
She is an integrated marketing communication specialist with a background in journalism & community work and a bias towards implementing issue campaigns and advocacy with many years of experience in East Africa. She is currently the Corporate Affairs Manager at the Kenya Film Commission where she plays a pivotal role in supporting the Kenyan film industry. Progressively, she has executed advocacy and development work while establishing a background in grant management. Catherine brings a wealth of experience and her strong East African network to her role on the Advisory Board.
Bikiya Graham-Douglas (Nigeria)
Bikiya is an award-winning actress, singer and producer who is committed to telling stories through different art mediums, stage, film, and radio. Bikiya is a winner of Winner Africa Magic Viewer's Choice Awards and a Nominee in the Nigeria Entertainment Awards and the Nominee Nollywood Movie Awards. She is also the founder and CEO of Beeta Productions and the Beeta Universal Arts Foundation, both of which work to produce and support quality Nigerian productions. Bikiya has also served as International Jury member at FESPACO and as a Trainer /Resource Person at The Zanzibar International Film Festival and is also a board member of Lagos Fringe Festival.
Charlotte Giese (Denmark), she is a Senior Advisor at Danish Film Institute and also works as Strategic Consultant for organisations i.e.in Middle East and Africa. She is passionately committed to the development of the film industry across the world. As a leader, who is concerned about the synergy between growth and development & between commercial and non-commercial areas, her vision is to strengthen the next generation through talent development, media literacy, cinema culture and production of high quality artistic and engaging content.
Nse Ikpe-Etim (Nigeria)
She is a multi-award-winning actress from Nigeria. A recipient of the IARA Awards in the UK, the AMVCAs as well as nominations for several other awards both local and international, she has served as juror on international organizations such as the Durban International Film Festival (DIFF), Cape Town International Film Market & Festival (CTIFMF), etc. Nse is a veteran who is well known as one of the most influential personalities on the African creative scene. Known for her humanitarian and mentoring efforts, Nse is a TEDx speaker, and she recently received an award from the Cyprus International University in recognition of her contribution to youth development.
Fibby Kioria (Kenya)
She was born and raised in Kenya and is the Program Director at Maisha Film Lab and has for the last 8 years worked in film education management. She has sat on numerous film festival juries around the world and founded two short film festivals in East Africa that she curates. She is passionate about African cinema, particularly the archiving the history of African Cinema.
Fibby’s work at Maisha Lab has been well respected for a number of years and she has made a significant impact on the East African film industry. She is also the Associate Producer for the ‘Sembene Across Africa’ screenings, which, to date, have shown Ousmane Sembene’s work in over 35 countries in Sub Saharan Africa through dozens of community screening over the last three years.
Elias Ribeiro (South Africa)
He is a Brazilian born film producer who has lived and worked in over 10 countries. He has now been based in South Africa for a decade, where he founded Urucu Media. His award-winning body of work spans a wide range of documentary and fiction projects that have premiered in Competition at Sundance, Berlinale, Festival do Rio, Beijing and Durban, to name a few. In 2017 he had two of his films in the running for the Best Foreign Language Oscar, representing South Africa and Mozambique. He is the founder of Realness, a Pan African Screenwriters Residency, Creative Producer Indaba and most recently Realness Institute. In 2018, he headed up the Market and Industry Programme of the Cape Town International Film Market and Festival as the Market Director. Lately he has enjoyed being a jury member for film funds such as Hubert Bals, mentoring producers in labs in Locarno, Addis Ababa, Kampala and offering consultancy services to different production companies and film related businesses on International co-productions and distribution.
Monica Rorvik (South Africa)
As Head of Film and Media Promotion at Wesgro, Monica’s mission is to inspire. She travels the globe representing Cape Town and the Western Cape. She has worked in the film industry in South Africa for many years, always with a strong focus on promotion, development, and collaboration. Monica is well known and respected around the world as she works tirelessly promoting the film industry of the Western Cape. A consummate networker, Monica has already added significant value as an ally of the Ladima Foundation and will continue to do so as a member of the Advisory Board.
Debra Zimmerman (USA)
She is the Executive Director of Women Make Movies based in New York City. She has worked for many years to support women in the film industry, not just in the USA, but around the world. She is the recipient of New York Women in Film and Television’s Loreen Arbus Award and the Hot Doc’s Doc Mogul Award, given to those who “over the course of their career has made an essential contribution to the creative vitality of the documentary industry, both in his or her country or abroad.”
