adminJOHANNESBURG. – Sisters are doing it for themselves. They’re creating waves, and surfing them, across various entertainment sectors in Africa and beyond.
Fame Week Africa 2022 has identified and selected 10 creative trailblazers, whose work will be broadcast from August 24-26 live at the Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC) in Cape Town.
Amid challenges brought by the last few years, these women have shown their mettle, rising to the top of their professions and living their exceptional talents out loud.
FWA is a nexus for creative professionals across SA, Africa and the globe.
The event hosts various shows, conferences and award ceremonies, focusing on film and television, arts, animation, music, media and entertainment sectors.
Here are the candidates who made it to FWA’s Top 10 Women in Entertainment, alphabetically and by sector:
l Film and television
1. Ayten Amin, film director – Egypt
Ayten Amin’s first short film Her Man has won several national prizes.
In 2013, her debut feature film Villa 69 received the Special Jury Award for Arab Film at the Abu Dhabi Film Festival, the Cairo Film Connection Award for best film and the Hubert Bals Fund Award at Durban FilmMart.
2. Camille Eden, vice-president of recruitment and talent development for Nickelodeon – US (animation)
Camille Eden calls herself a “collaborative leader, who specialises in recruitment and talent acquisition, outreach and talent development”.
She enjoys working with creatives at all levels to help them achieve their goals. Eden’s work includes being one of 54 black animation professionals who recreated the iconic Great Day in Harlem with Nickelodeon.
3. Dorothy Ghettuba, director of Africa originals at Netflix — Kenya
Dorothy Ghettuba is a Kenyan film and TV entrepreneur and the director of original series for Africa at Netflix.
She is a co-founder of the Nairobi-based Spielworks Media, an African production company launched in 2009. In 2016, she was named among C.Hub magazine’s 100 most influential creative personalities. Ghettuba is also a 2016 Archbishop Tutu fellow with the African Leadership Institute.
4. Nomsa Philiso, executive head of programming, general entertainment at M-Net — SA
Nomsa Philiso has extensive broadcast and media experience spanning over 25 years in: media sales, channel and content management, technology project implementation, and general management.
5. Mehret Mandefro, co-founder of Realness Institute and filmmaker — Ethiopia and US
Born in Addis Ababa, Mehret Mandefro was one of the 2009 honorees in the Black Girls Rock Awards, receiving the Community Service Award.
In 2014, she was one of the women honoured in the International Women’s Day Celebration in New York City, by WomenWerk.
The same year she co-produced the film Difret, directed by Zeresenay Berhane Mehari. Mandefro also co-executive produced a 2019 Mehari film titled, Sweetness in the Belly, and the documentary The Loving Generation, which she co-directed and co-produced was nominated for a Webby People’s Voice Award.
l Others
6. Mimi Bartels, head of production of FilmOne Entertainment — Nigeria
7. Antos Stella, MD — Content Connect Africa — SA
8. Domanique Grant, singer-songwriter — Canada
9. Namakau Star, Singer — SA
10. XXC Legacy, artist and cross-trainer ambassador — SA — TimesLive.
Online Reporter