About Xoliswa Sithole | Producer, Director, Filmmaker

Two time BAFTA and Peabody winner, Xoliswa Sithole is a producer / director and filmmaker, focusing on human rights.

Photo credit: James Manyika

nayanaya pictures Xoliswa Sithole Peabody Winner

Memberships

1

Xoliswa Sithole is a member of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA).

2

Xoliswa Sithole is a founding member of Filmmakers Against Racism

3

Committee member of the James Manyika Fellowship at Harvard (other members: Eric Smidt-Former Google C.E.O, Reid Hoffman founder of LinkedIn, Cory Booker Senator from New Jersey, Henry Louis ‘Skip’ Gates the Director of the Hutchins Centre at Harvard University and
Anna Deavere Smith, actress, playwright / Tony Winner.

4

Founding Member of IBFC – Independent Black Filmmakers Collective

Presentations

1

Xoliswa Sithole has been invited to speaking engagements at various US Universities and to participate on panels at international conferences like the World Bank’s First International Broadcast Symposium (Washington, DC, 2004), the UN’s African Broadcast and Media Symposium (Addis Ababa, 2003), and First World Cultural Forum (Sao Paulo, 2004)

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Xoliswa Sithole was also the ‘South Africa Ambassador’ at the Cannes Film Festival (1999), and ‘South Africa Representative’ and speaker at the Nantes film Festival (2000).

3

Xoliswa Sithole presented Zimbabwe's Forgotten Children at the World Affairs Council in San Francisco in 2011

4

Jury Member for BRICS Film Festival India and China (2016 and 2017) Chairperson of the Jury for BRICS Film Festival 2018.

Advisory Panels

2016

Part of a panel advising the Minister of Arts and Culture on Film Distribution in South Africa

2017
- 2018

As a Founding member of IBFC working and advising DTI on film incentives for black filmmakers of which some were improved August 2018 by Minister Rob Davies for the benefit of Black Filmmakers to participate in 12.2. Billion Randvalue chain which is what white film companies made in 2016 financial year in which Film was the 3rd largest earner below Agriculture and the Motor Industry. Working on pushing for Co-productions especially with African Countries. We are engaging the DTI on how we fast track the understating of the 4th Industrial Revolution in the Film Industry as a whole making sure that Black people are not left behind. We are engaging other stake holders such as the National Film and Video Foundation and we are waiting for the SABC to fully engage us (we have partially engaged them, and we feel more work needs to happen with the Public Broadcaster around the issue)

2018

Advised the Minister of Arts and Culture (through a presentation) on how Film can be positioned in the BRICS Sector. Through Inter broadcast agreements, one co- production Treaty, a Film Fund etc.

2018

Part of an Advisory Committee/ Task team on Working on the Film Summit to focus, harness and structure the way forward in the Industry around sustainability
issues and the 4th Industrial Revolution.

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