HER|STORY

Aika is based in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Kirei created, wrote, and directed the international award-winning environmental animated series, ‘Chiku & Katope,’ which won Best Film for Children at the Lake International PanAfrican Film Festival (LIPFF) and has been screened to thousands of primary school students in Tanzania, raising awareness, and positively influencing behaviour change among school children and adults. She produced the international award-winning documentary, ‘Fahari Yetu: Zanzibar Saves its Sea,’ which won Best Film on Environmental Issues and Best Score at LIPFF. It has been officially selected and screened at festivals in New Zealand, Belgium, Italy, Iran, Nigeria, the U.S., Kenya, Germany, Hungary, India, Rwanda, and Russia. The co-founder of Alama Art and Media Production (Alama), she creates animation, graphic novels, and radio programs. Its animated short, ‘Mwezi Unang’aa Sana,’ won Best Animation and Best Original Score at the 2021 Watoto International Film Festival and was a semifinalist at the 2021 Courage Film Festival in Berlin. Alama has also worked closely with the Tanzania Institute of Education to create over 100 educational animated episodes for preschoolers and primary school children.