Nigeria/UK

Zina Saro-Wiwa (daughter of the late Nigerian activist and environmentalist Ken Saro-Wiwa) is a 32-year-old filmmaker, writer and presenter. She is also the founder of AfricaLab, A multimedia company dedicated to changing the way the world sees Africa.

Zina was born in 1976 in Port Harcourt, Nigeria, and moved to Britain at the age of one and was brought up in Surrey. She and her twin sister were sent to Roedean in Sussex at the age of 10, which they attended until the age of 18. She worked for political think tank Demos during her gap year, then moved to Brazil for two months before attending Bristol University where she nearly studied music composition but eventually opted for Economics and Social History.

Zina has enjoyed a varied and highprofile career in journalism, radio, television, music and film since the age of 16. She regularly writes for national newspapers and magazines, and has published short stories and essays. She has been television presenter for BBC2's arts magazine programme The Culture Show from 2004 to Feb 2008 and is currently developing a programme for Channel 4 about African presence in the UK. Zina began working as a BBC radio reporter at age 20, and worked for both Radios 3 and 4 as presenter, reporter, producer and researcher on a variety of programmes. She has worked as a musician and music journalist and was advisor for the British Council's music unit.

Zina has made three documentaries to date; her third film : This is My Africa.


BIOGRAPHY (NYAFF 2011)

Zina Saro-Wiwa is a British-Nigeria filmmaker, curator and founder of AfricaLab, the production company behind the HBO documentary This is My Africa. A former BBC journalist, Saro-Wiwa has made three documentaries, two experimental Nollywood films and video art. Her most recent documentary, the award-winning This Is My Africa - which features, amongst others: Chiwetel Ejiofor; John Akomfrah; Yinka Shonibare and Oscar-winning actor Colin Firth - weaves together the personal experiences and memories of a group of Africans and Africaphiles. The documentary was shown on HBO in 2010 and 2011. Her most recent AfricaLab project was the contemporary art exhibition titled Sharon Stone in Abuja which explored the visual and narrative conventions of Nigeria's video film industry: Nollywood. For the exhibition Saro-Wiwa brought together top artists Wangechi Mutu, Pieter Hugo, Mickalene Thomas and Andrew Esiebo and contributed her own work in the form of installation, video art and experimental film. Zina is a passionate advocate of the importance of the role of culture in development in Africa and its diaspora. Her company, AfricaLab, is dedicated to sharing knowledge about African cultures and also re-imagining the continent's culture through experimental art and film projects. She was recently named as one of The Times' (UK) top 25 Africans leading the continent's Renaissance.

Source:
18th New York African Film Festival (April 6th - May 31st, 2011)