The Ladima Foundation will present the Adiaha Award for Best Documentary Film by an African woman at this year’s 23rd Encounters South African International Documentary Festival. The festival will run from 10th to 20th June, 2021.
Previous winners of the prize have included 2018 winner Samantha Biffot for The African Who Wanted to Fly, and 2019 winner Philippa Ndisi-Herrmann for New Moon.
The Adiaha (first daughter) Award recognizes and rewards women from across Africa to tell their stories through documentary film. The winner of the 2021 Award will receive Ksh. 216,060 ($2,000) for their next production and an invitation to attend the Dortmund Cologne International Women’s Film Festival 2022 in Germany, where their film will be screened.
In 2020, the Adiaha Award was presented at the Encounters South African International Documentary Film Festival to director Tamara Mariam Dawit from Ethiopia for her film Finding Sally.
Now in its 23rd year, the Encounters South African International Documentary Festival has returned with a celebration of the best in African and international documentary filmmaking. Following on from its hugely successful virtual festival in 2020, the Festival will be coming to screens for its 2021 edition. From 10th – 20th June, audiences will experience 10 days of inspiring films, webinars, debates and interactions with local and international directors.
This year’s Adiaha Award winner will be selected from the six selected eligible films by an all-woman jury of film practitioners from across Africa. These include Theresa Hill, Manager STEPS South Africa, Cornelia Glele, journalist, filmmaker and blogger from Benin and Shameela Seedat, Fulbright scholar and filmmaker, South Africa.
The Adiaha Award is one of the interventions of the Ladima Foundation, aimed at supporting and developing women working in film, television and content creation across Africa. Other initiatives of the Foundation include the Ladima Film Academy for professional training and development, the African Film Festival Network, and the A-List, a social community.