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   Free Film School

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Network


Free Film School is driven by a small team, the participants who attend weekly sessions and have formed the first FFS family, and a wide network of facilitators – proffessionals in their respective fields who share their experiences, answer questions and recommend next steps for those who want to take their learning further. Scroll to meet our team, alumni, and facilitators.

Team


Jenna Cato Bass (Founder, Facilitator) is a South African writer, filmmaker and former magician. Her award-winning films include Love The One You Love (2014), High Fantasy (2017), Flatland (2019) and Good Madam (2021), and have screened around the world, including at the Sundance, Berlinale and Toronto Film Festivals.


Qondiswa James (Founder, Facilitator) is a cultural worker living in Cape Town, South Africa. She is an award-winning theatre-maker, performance artist, film and theatre performer, installation artist, writer, arts facilitator and activist.


Eliana Nkembo(Assistant) is a filmmaker and video editor who is passionate about storytelling. Her leap of faith of jumping straight into the film industry has granted her the opportunity to be part of multiple projects from corporate to narrative pieces, and now Free Film school.

Alumni


Kastarine Kgola is a Documentary Director and Editor with a passion for social justice stories. 

Instagram @rine_kgola
Facebook Rine Neo Kgola
Twitter @kastarine_kgola


Liyema Xotyeni is a rising screenwriter, director and actress. She is interested in the exploration and intricacies of the human condition and their reactions through the lens of genre, and sussing out truths within: no matter how light or dark it can be. 

Instagram @lee_julwe
Twitter @LiyemaJX


Tienkie Albertyn is a retired nurse who became interested in screenwriting some years ago,  when she wanted to document the time she spent in Mozambique, as a missionary nurse, during the civil war. Tienkie has also joined The Writers’ Guild of South Africa as a candidate member.

Facebook Tienkie Albertyn


Nonceba "Ntombie" Luthuli was born in Mt. Fletcher in the Eastern Cape. She holds a diploma in General Nursing Science and is mostly interested in directing films.

Facebook Reina Negra
Instagram @Reina.Negra_


Lwando Faku is a certified agile team coach, facilitator and trainer. He enjoys coaching individuals and teams to reach higher performance and potential using continuous improvement frameworks. He has always had a passion for filmmaking and has a keen interest in film production, directing and screenwriting.

Website wwww.lwandofaku.com 


Suhail Kapdi is a UCT postgrad student currently doing their Masters in Gender and Transformation, however in their spare time they enjoy filmmaking, especially screenwriting and cinematography. Through these areas, they wish to explore and create subversive South African queer and trans narratives, and how filmmaking can be used as a means of transforming society.

Instagram assignedmilfatbirth
Facebook Suhail Kapdi


Sisanda Henda believes that she is here to add to an already impactful industry. Her interest lies in screenwriting as well as directing. She hopes to create stories that help all of us better connect to each other.


Lona Sipika is ambitious, dynamic and versatile. She works as a background artist on different casting agencies and is currently a photographer. Lona has done a short course in Photography and Videography as well as a programme through Manenberg Film School. She would like to start her career behind the scenes, working on set.

Facebook Lona Sipika
Instagram @lonabathandiwe


Max Fouchee is a non-binary queer photographer and aspiring filmmaker with a special interest in cinematography. Their specialty is taking authentic and candid photos for brands who identify as different from the rest and who are trying to make a difference.

Linktree MaxBlurr  


AbuBakr Da Costa is a passionate film lover and a deaf, aspiring film director.

Instagram @abubakrdacosta
TikTok @abubakrdc


Sa'id Suma is passionate in creating organic stories that take shape over the course of the production process. He has a keen interest in editing, but through Free Film School has had the opportunity to write and direct his own original scripts.

Twitter @auxheatwes
Instagram @auxheatwes


Nozuko Madokwe is an interdisciplinary, abstract expressionist artist. She aims to produce an experimental film that can explore history as memory, a state of humanity and spiritual urgency.

Instagram @nobhobwire_4
Press Zeitz Mocaa, ‘home is where the art is’


Tefelo Sekgarameco is a missionary/filmmaker/writer. He enjoys making documentaries & short films.

Facebook Tefelo Sekgarameco
Instagram @jesus_saves_john3sixteen


Joy Hill is an impressive ideator in the creative world, designing the sets & costumes for a range of projects. She was also a juror for the 2022 Encounters Film Festival.

Facilitators

FACILITATOR


Imran Hamdulay is a writer, director and producer based in Cape Town. His films have featured at numerous festivals and markets with his most recent film, Sons of the Sea, the recipient of the Best South African Film award at the Durban International Film Festival.

Instagram @imranhamdulay




FACILITATOR

Julie Nxadi is a multi-disciplinary artist from eNgqushwa, Eastern Cape. Her work explores intimacy, banality and opacity in post. TRC South Africa with particular interest in internal chaos, family systems, and exploring the fragments of contemporary South African Social Life.

Instagram @julienxadi


FACILITATOR

Sandulela Asanda (she/her/they)is a narrative and commercials director and screenwriter based in Cape Town. Sandulela has worked in film festivals, training institutions, and production. Her short films have screened internationally and is currently working on their first feature film, Black Burns Fast.

Instagram @sandulelaasanda


FACILITATOR

Julia Cain is a lecturer at the Centre for Film & Media Studies at the University of Cape Town where she works primarily with the screen production students. Julia is passionate about documentary film, teaching and learning, and developing South African Creatives.

Instagram @julia.cain, @cfmsuct


FACILITATOR

Khosie Dali is a producer and founder of Miss K Productions. She is an alumni of CPUT, Durban Film Mart, Rotterdam Lab and EAVE’s producers lab. In 2021 her first feature film, premiered at CineQuest Film Festival in Los Angeles and the Durban Film Festival where it won best feature film in South Africa.

Instagram @grace_prime


FACILITATOR

Thea Small is a writer and director, whose work spans television, advertising, music videos and short films. A passionate storyteller, she has written for several notable TV shows, directed SAFTA nominated short films, curated film festivals and is signed to Darling Films as a commercials director.

Instagram @a.small.girl


FACILITATOR

Archie Birch has worked in film media and animation for over 20 years. He lectured at AFDA, City Varsity, False Bay College and SAE. Archie freelances as an artist, and educator, and remains passionate about visual storytelling in film and media.

Instagram birch.archie


FACILITATOR

Jabu Nadia Newman is a director and photographer. Her short, “The Dream That Refused Me”, for Nowness, earned her a New Director award at the Shots EMEA’s Represented by Romance Films (SA) and Park Pictures (US/UK), she’s directed campaigns for Adidas and Nandos.

Instagram @jabunewman


 FACILITATOR

Mahlatsi Mokgonyana is an award-winning theatre-practitioner. Mahlatsi’s work has been recognised in South Africa, Namibia, Scandinavia, Germany, England and has earned him critic’s picks and awards locally and internationally.

Instagram @black__orpheus



 FACILITATOR

Buhle Ngaba is a multi-award winning South African actor, writer and theatre activist. She studied Acting and Contemporary performance at Rhodes University and Processes of Performance at the University of Leeds.

Instagram @buhlengaba


 FACILITATOR

Kirsten van Schie is a documentary director, video editor and journalism trainer. She works behind the camera on news breaking stories, lifestyle features, documentaries and her own short films.


 FACILITATOR

Nwabisa Plaatjie is a young theatre-maker, creative producer, and leader with seven years of experience. Her productions have been performed in South Africa, Germany and China.

Instagram @nwabisaplaatje


FACILITATOR

Iman Isaacs is a performer, theatre maker, director, mask-maker and educator and has worked and performed extensively both locally and abroad in the film and theatre industry. Iman currently lectures at UCT and teaches Voice as part of Magnet Theatre’s Training Program.

Instagram @iman_isaacs



 FACILITATOR

Kristina Graour received an MA in Screenwriting in 2014, and a PhD in Film and television Studies in 2019, both from UCT. She is currently the coordinator of the Advanced Diploma in Film Production at CPUT.


FACILITATOR

Michael Klein is  Cape Town based filmmaker working primarily as a TVC producer and Line Producer. When time (and money) allows he enjoys developing and directing his own short films and documentaries.

Instagram @mikemakesmovie


FACILITATOR

Jacques de Villers is a fiction and documentary editor, and has taught film at the University of Cape Town. His work has won awards, including the Toronto International Film Festival (Mlungu Wam), National Geographic All Roads festival (The Creators), and Durban International Film Festival (Love the One YOu Love).

Instagram @cinemanoaware



FACILITATOR

Pascale Neuschafer is an award-winning cinematographer experienced in film, television, documentaries and commercials. Her work has been seen across the globe with notable festivals including BFI Flare, Hot Docs, Venice Shorts, Inside Out and the Durban Film Festival.

Instagram @pascaleneuschafer


FACILITATOR

Peggy Tunyiswa is a Fleur Du Cap Theatre Award winner, performance artist and artpreneur. She also works in activism and development where she uses the arts to challenge the status quo. On-screen, she has featured in both local and international film and series.

Instagram @peggy_ngqo


FACILITATOR

Stephen Abbott is a story and finishing editor, filmmaker, and post-production supervisor. A Wits School of Arts Drama graduate, he combines deep technical experience with a passion for storytelling through moving pictures.

Instagram @abbobbotho



 FACILITATOR

Kanya Viljoen is a film and theatre writer, director and maker working in Cape Town, South Africa, founding member of Unusual Bones, an interdisciplinary creative company working in theatre, film and performance art.

Instagram @kanya.viljoen


FACILITATOR

Antoinette Engel is a producer at Electric South and has worked in film and TV since 2009. Selected for the 2021 RLNS Netflix episode lab, she co-produced the transnational web series Black Women Disrupt The Web as well as 11 short films for the 2019 Female filmmaker project.

Instagram @antoinetteengel


FACILITATOR

David Max Brown has extensive credits as a producer spanning documentary, features and TV - including Skeem Saam, and box-office success,  Noem my Skollie. He is the head production and Industry Liaison in the Postgraduate Motion Picture Department at AFDA.

Instagram @dmaxbrown


 FACILITATOR

Jannous Nkululeko Aukema is a filmmaker and composer who works in a wide range of genres and forms, from fiction to documentary, theatre and multimedia installation. His work pivots around themes of ancestral Memory, social-justice, migration and post-coloniality.

Instagram @jannousaukema


FACILITATOR

Nasfa Ncanywa is an interdisciplinary artist working in film, theatre and visual arts. She is an artist resident at Masambe Impact Lab, Assistant curator at the Malibongwe Festival, and has been selected for the Black Girl Live Fellowship 2022.

Instagram @nasfancwanya



FACILITATOR

Chumisa Cosa is an award-winning scriptwriter and actor. She has starred in series for SABC, MNET, etv and Mzantsi Magic, such as Intersexions, Rhythm City and Binnerlanders, as well as local and international films. You can catch her on Wounds and in upcoming features, Mlungu Wam.

Instagram @ch_is_a_click




 FACILITATOR

Tandile Mbatsha is a Queer and gender non-conforming performance artist, choreographic-activist, educator, speaker, host, producer, model and scholar. In addition to their diverse performance work, they have recently been commissioned by the V&A Waterfront for the Artist Alliance campaign.

Instagram @tandilembatsha


FACILITATOR

Linnet Marian Chihaka is a 500H RYT qualified Yoga Instructor and aspiring Holistic Therapist who has been practicing Yoga for over 8 years. Yoga is the glue that holds her overall well-being together and provides endless tools for moving smoothly and mindfully through life’s adversities.

Instagram @templeheartyoga
FACILITATOR
LOCKDOWN FILM SCHOOL

Khalid Shamis is a documentarian and editor living in Cape Town.

Website www.tubafilms.com

Vimeo tubafilms

Instagram @therealdj_khalid


 FACILITATOR
LOCKDOWN FILM SCHOOL

Sean Drumond is a filmmaker, best known for multi-awarded films Five fingers for Marsellies and Apocalypse Now Now. He is the founding festival manager of the Shnit Short Film Festival’s South African chapter and programmes for Encounters, and the Durban International Film Festival.

Instagram @Seandrums


 FACILITATOR
LOCKDOWN FILM SCHOOL

Loren Loubser is a performer and creator from Cape Town.

Instagram @lekkerlollas


FACILITATOR
LOCKDOWN FILM SCHOOL

Sara Gouveia is a film director, cinematographer and editor, living in Cape Town.

Vimeo Sara Gouveia

Instagram @saracfgouveia


FACILITATOR
LOCKDOWN FILM SCHOOL

Gabe Gabriel is a queer South African writer and actor who has also been producing and directing their own content between Cape Town and Los Angeles.

Instagram @gabe4gabriel
Youtube Queer Things


FACILITATOR
LOCKDOWN FILM SCHOOL

Dr Alexia Smit is a lecturer at the Center for Film & Media Studies at the University of Cape Town.


FACILITATOR
LOCKDOWN FILM SCHOOL

Francis Chouler is an actor, creative producer and educator. He teaches the business of being a freelancers at various tertiary institutions around the country.

Instagram @grancischouler
facebook Francis Chouler


 FACILITATOR
LOCKDOWN FILM SCHOOL

Jurg Slabbert is a filmmaker and lecturer at CPUT.

Instagram @jurgslabbert

Facebook Jurg Slabbert


 LOCKDOWN FILM SCHOOL

Francesca Varrie Michel is an actor and voice over artist from Cape Town, who starred as Lexi in High Fantasy.

Instagram @francescavarriemichel


LOCKDOWN FILM SCHOOL

Mzukisi Ntantiso is a Cape Town based actor and MC.

facebook mzukisi.ntantiso

instagram @mzu_def


LOCKDOWN FILM SCHOOL

Mthunzi Ramphele lives in LA and is busy pitching his television series, Modern Monsters.

Instagram @mthunziramphele


 LOCKDOWN FILM SCHOOL

Cait Pansegrouw is a producer at Urucu Media and co-founder of the Realness Institute.

Facebook Cait Pansegrouw

Instagram @cait_panties



 LOCKDOWN FILM SCHOOL

Khotso K Manaka is an actor based in Joburg and Cape Town.

Instagram @khotsomanaka

Facebook Khotso K Manaka


LOCKDOWN FILM SCHOOL

Kiroshan Naidoo is a film and stage actor based in Cape Town.

Instagram @kiroshan_naidoo

Facebook Kiroshan Naidoo


LOCKDOWN FILM SCHOOL

Julia Bass is a designer and has worked in the film industry in both wardrobe and styling.

Instagram @juliabassjr


LOCKDOWN FILM SCHOOL

Hope Thangata is an actor based in Cape Town.

Instagram @hopethang


LOCKDOWN FILM SCHOOL

Kyle Wallace is a freelance editor, UCT graduate and editor of @high.fantasy.

Instagram @kw.updates


LOCKDOWN FILM SCHOOL

Tamsin Ranger is a Cape Town based producer at Big World Cinema.

Instagram @tamsinranger

Facebook Tamsin Ranger


 LOCKDOWN FILM SCHOOL

Emilie Badenhorst is a film director based in Cape Town. She is also a Creative and the Co-Founder of Unusual Bones.

Instagram @emiliebadenhorst 

Facebook Emilie Badenhorst


 LOCKDOWN FILM SCHOOL

Perivi Katjavivi
is a Namibian filmmaker and researcher, based in South Africa.


 LOCKDOWN FILM SCHOOL

Babalwa Carol Mtshiselwa is a @saftassa award winning hair and makeup artist.

Instagram @babalwa.mtshiselwa


LOCKDOWN FILM SCHOOL

Chantel Clark is a screenwriter and director based between South Africa and the USA.

Instagram @chantelclark

Facebook Chantel Clark

Website chantelclarkfilm.com


LOCKDOWN FILM SCHOOL

Jethro Westraad
is a filmmaker and cinematographer from South Africa.

Instagram @jethro_westraad

Youtube Jethro Westraad


LOCKDOWN FILM SCHOOL

Jessie Zinn is a filmmaker from Cape Town, currently doing her MFA at Stanford University.

Instagram @jessiezinn


LOCKDOWN FILM SCHOOL

Kelly-Eve Koopman
is a performer, writer, creator and activist from Cape Town.

Instagram @thenightbeforekelly

Facebook Kelly Eve Koopman, Coloured Mentality


 LOCKDOWN FILM SCHOOL

Mia Cilliers  is a documentary filmmaker based in Cape Town.

Instagram @miacilliers 

Website reelepicsproductions.co.za




 LOCKDOWN FILM SCHOOL

Okuhle Dyosopu is a South African documentary filmmaker, based Ebhayi.

Instagram @intombi_yo_moya


 LOCKDOWN FILM SCHOOL

Kyle Stroebel is a colourist at the Refinery in Cape Town.

Instagram @stroobzz

Press Screen Africa


LOCKDOWN FILM SCHOOL

Sihle Hlope is a Joburg-based director and writer, as well as the founder of Passion Seed Communications.

Instagram @sihle_hlophe 

Facebook Sihle Hlophe


LOCKDOWN FILM SCHOOL

Evan Wigdorowits is a
filmmaker from Joburg, now based in Cape Town.

Instagram @evanwigdorowitz

Vimeo evanwigdorowitz


LOCKDOWN FILM SCHOOL

Gray Kotze is a cinematographer working in Cape Town.

You Tube In Depth Cine


LOCKDOWN FILM SCHOOL

Samantha Nell is a writer-director based in Johannesburg.

Instagram @samonelll



LOCKDOWN FILM SCHOOL

Silas Miami
is a Cape Town-based Kenyan performing artist, photographer and filmmaker.

Instagram @silasmiami

Website www.silasmiami.com


LOCKDOWN FILM SCHOOL

Aliki Saragas-Georgiou is a South African documentary filmmaker and photographer.

Website www.elafos.co.za/

Twitter @filmingliksi

Instagram @filmingliksi


LOCKDOWN FILM SCHOOL

Cassandra Mapanda
is an actor and voice over artist based in Cape Town.

Instagram @cassiepammzy


 LOCKDOWN FILM SCHOOL

Matthys Boshoff
is a writer-director from Johannesburg and director of recently released @racheltjiedebeerfilm.

Vimeo matthysboshoff

Instagram @matthys_boshoff




LOCKDOWN FILM SCHOOL

Aninka Möller is a fabricator, as well as many other roles in the Art Department.

Instagram @momentruined


Free Film School is a film and arts education programme, that provides alternative, accessible and Africa-centric skills-sharing between established and aspiring filmmakers, writers, artists and activists in South Africa.

︎ ︎ ︎ ︎ ︎ Free Film School (NPO 270-210) Bertha House, 67-69 Main Rd, Mowbray, Cape Town.