NEWF Announces THE NEXT CHAPTER Live Pitch Winners at #NEWF2025.
NEWF Story Labs is pleased to announce the winners of the Next Chapter Live Pitch. This year-long programme supports filmmakers, conservationists, and scientists across various stages of their filmmaking journey, aiming to foster impactful storytelling in the realms of natural history, conservation, and environmental themes for storytellers who have already started their careers.
“Humanity has always used stories to explain and comprehend phenomena. Our brains are still wired to be more receptive to narrative structures as a means of sharing knowledge, comprehending facts, evoking emotion and creating meaning. This is the Power of Story.”
The Next Chapter stream within the Producers’ Lab Series provides selected Fellows with mentorship from industry professionals. Supported by a series of hybrid workshops and one-on-one check-ins, Fellows lean on this fellowship from the initial research phases of their projects to final delivery. The programme holistically addresses all aspects of the filmmaking process, enhancing producers' skills and career trajectories.
During fellows summit in and among other workshops and sessions, the finalists had a two day pitching workshop with mentor Geoff Luck who presented the live pitch event at NEWF2025. Shortlisted Next Chapter candidates then showcased their compelling project ideas, demonstrating innovation and passion for themes such as nature, wildlife, environmental challenges, conservation, and climate change resilience.
The twelve (12) finalists pitched delivered a series of inspiring projects to the audience over the three (3) days of Congress, which included an esteemed jury: Wangeci Murage (CEO Media Pros Africa), Tria Thalman (Jackson Wild Summit and Valleyman Films), Aurélie Reman (Sunny Side of the Doc), and Sifiso Khanyile (Anaphora Pictures)
Antony Njoroge from Kenya pitched ‘Memo’.
Damilola Solesi from Nigeria pitched ‘Ashianam’.
Feisal Malik from Kenya pitched ‘The Pink Jewel of Africa’.
Gloria Asimwe Rutazaha pitched ‘The Last Tear Drops of Kilimanjaro’ on behalf Fabian Senga from Tanzania.
Ibrahim S Miles Kamara from Sierra Leone pitched ‘Silent Harvest: The Struggle for Sierra Leone’s Sea Cucumber’.
Katie Biggar from South Africa pitched ‘People of the Pool’.
Matamba Kombila from Gabon pitched ‘Landfill Diaries ‘ Working title.
Nondumiso Masache from South Africa pitched ‘Taste of the Land’.
Policarpo Mapengo from Mozambique pitched ‘Os Protetores’ (The Protectors), with live translation provided by Larissa de Sousa.
Robert Boyd from Sierra Leone and the USA pitched ‘What My Ancestors Saw’.
Shameelah Khan from South Africa pitched ‘How Long Park’.
Neil Brandt pitched ‘The Forest’ on behalf of Zahra Moloo from Kenya
Representing four (4) African countries, and a diversity of subject matter, creative styles and points of view, we welcome and celebrate the pitch winners announced live on the 4th of April 2025. Accepted Fellows have joined a vibrant community of African storytellers, conservationists, and scientists - enriching their networks and contributing to the collective narrative of Africa’s natural heritage. Each winner will receive R150,000 for research, development, production, and post-production of their short documentary films.
The jury also announced a special mention prize to the value of 1000USD to support the further development of a compelling project.
MEET THE NEXT CHAPTER
pitch winners
Damilola Solesi, Nigeria
Damilola Solesi is an Animation Director, Producer, and Writer, as well as the Creative Director and CEO of Smids Animation Studios. Through her leadership, the studio has made a global impact with its commitment to authentic African storytelling. Her acclaimed works—Boxed, Uyi, and Hadu—have screened internationally at festivals such as ANIMAGE (Brazil), Silicon Valley African Film Festival (USA), and CINANIMA (Portugal). Damilola served as a juror for the International Emmy Awards (2020–2022) and was named a MIPTV “Producer to Watch” in both 2020 and 2022. Her dedication to innovation and representation continues to shape and elevate African narratives within the global animation landscape.
📽️ Ashianam
In a picturesque coastal village, young Tonye, a curious boy with a deep love for the sea, discovers he has a unique ability to communicate with the Ashianam—a pod of majestic, glowing manatees considered sacred protectors of the ocean. These gentle creatures, known for their ancient wisdom and magic, are increasingly endangered as the village’s fishermen, struggling with dwindling fish supplies, turn to hunt them for profit.
Ehie, Tonye’s father, is a respected fisherman who faces mounting pressure to join the hunt despite his knowledge of the sea’s delicate balance. Torn between survival and tradition, the village becomes divided, with Ehie leading a faction advocating for the sea’s preservation while others grow desperate for resources.
When Tonye stumbles upon the Ashianam’s hidden sanctuary and forms a profound bond with them, he learns that they’ve long whispered warnings through the waves, urging the villagers to respect the ocean’s balance. As the tension between the village and the Ashianam grows, Tonye realizes he is the bridge between these two worlds.
MK ©Asia Geiger Photo
Matamba Kombila, Gabon
After 15 years as a producer and artistic director in New York’s luxury and fashion industry, Matamba Kombila shifted paths in 2008 to pursue cinema. Her first industry experience came in 2009 on the set of Night Catches Us in Philadelphia. Returning to Libreville, Gabon, she founded Dougantsi Films in 2016. Since 2014, she has created award-winning short films, including the experimental A Walk in Purpose (2014), and produced works like Farewell Meu Amor (2016) and Gorillas of Gabon (2019). Her documentaries Mundele (2019) and influenceu.ses.rs (2021) completed festival runs. In 2021, she created Emo, Le parc Sacré, a contemporary Mvett stage tale. She currently teaches filmmaking and leads professional workshops, exploring new African identities through visual storytelling.
📽️ Landfill Diaries (working title)
I look like a mountain. My access is difficult. To my South is a market́ of recycled objects. My East is bathed by the river Komo, and a cemetery borders my West side. My North-West side is inhabited by workers.
Notwithstanding the risks of all kinds, hundreds of them (men, women, young people and also dozens of children) invade me daily. On my side, despite the deadly dangers coming from unstable garbage trucks and caterpillars with unpredictable movements, these destitute people rummage in me and turn me over day and night, looking for discarded objects. I'm a goldmine for these poor people.
I'm the Mindoubé landfill site, which receives almost 80% of the waste from the city of Libreville - 650 tonnes of rubbish collected every day.
Nondumiso Masache, South Africa
Nondumiso is an award-winning filmmaker and SAFTA-nominated producer with over a decade of experience in television research and production. She is an impact producer and alumna of Talents Durban (2017), Durban FilmMart Access (2023), and a NEWF Fellow (2024). A former Documentary Filmmakers Association (DFA) board member, she also served as Programme Manager for docLOVE, a DFA initiative offering free monthly screenings and discussions. Through her company, Zenkosi Film, she is completing her first independent short environmental film, funded by the National Film and Video Foundation and facilitated by NEWF. She is also developing her first feature documentary. In 2024, she was a film reader for the Encounters South African International Documentary Festival and regularly facilitates film screenings.
📽️ Taste of the Land
‘Taste of the Land’ explores the resurgence of indigenous grains and climate-smart foods through the inspiring journey of Siwe Ntombela, a Johannesburg-based plant-based, gluten-free, and dairy-free baker. Rooted in her personal heritage and commitment to sustainability, Siwe’s story becomes a window into the broader conversation about food sovereignty, sustainability, and reclaiming African food traditions in the face of urbanization and globalized diets. The documentary follows Siwe as she builds her business, Zimtoti, a bakery that sources local, climate-smart ingredients such as sorghum and millet. Siwe’s personal journey begins in Durban, where her mother’s teachings and the rich vegetarian culture around her laid the foundation for her love of plant-based foods. However, her true transformation comes after moving to Johannesburg, where unemployment forced her to turn her baking skills into a business.
Robert Boyd, Sierra Leone and the USA
Inspired early on by The Magic School Bus, Boyd R. Brooks saw the link between science and media, a passion that led to his career as a science editor, filmmaker, and communicator. He has collaborated with the Smithsonian, the Department of the Interior, and the Ocean Exploration Trust, filming everything from zooplankton and invasive species to deep-sea life aboard E/V Nautilus. With the National Park Service, he created films on Manassas, Everglades, and Indiana Dunes. As a Fulbright–National Geographic Fellow, he documented the Barbados Threadsnake. He also contributed to PBS Frontline’s The Healthcare Divide, worked with GBH, and used underwater videography to explore Alabama’s seagrass.
📽️ What My Ancestors Saw
Located 32 kilometres upriver from Freetown, Bunce Island once served as a gateway where tens of thousands of Africans were forcibly shipped to the ‘New World.’ While the enslaved people are long gone, the wildlife they witnessed still thrives. In this film, Bunce Island itself, along with the creatures inhabiting its land and surrounding waters, will take centre stage. The journey will move from the shoreline through dense jungle, past the crumbling remnants of the slave fort and ancient graveyard, before returning to the pier where enslaved Africans were sent to the American colonies. At each stage of the journey, the island's rich biodiversity will be showcased—from crabs and crocodiles to colony-forming termites and timid fruit bats.
Shameelah Khan, South Africa
Shameelah Khan is a Cape Town-based visual artist, researcher, academic, and creative writer. She holds a master’s in Visual Arts, with additional studies in Creative Writing, Islamic Studies, and Psychology. Her work explores self-reflexivity, care-praxis, decoloniality, and embodiment, with a focus on archive and memory work. Drawing from her familial archive, she’s created three short documentaries, one of which screened at Africa in Motion (Scotland), and another exhibited at Mashura (Cape Town). Shameelah blends film, visual and performing arts, projection design, and research. She lectured at AFDA and CPUT, edited Odd Mag, and produced a short for Bertha Mobifest. Currently, she curates, and co-leads the NGO Women of Waqf, and is completing a second master’s in Religion, Gender, and Sexuality. She’s also a cinephile, cat mama, and tea lover.
📽️ How long Park
This documentary intricately weaves the story of Baba Michael, tracing his path to the place that would become the Park. Through a creative and poetic lens, the film enters a dream sequence—less a re-enactment, more an evocation of a dream state—capturing the emotional resonance of his journey. The sequence layers together sounds of Islamic meditations, whispered prayers, and Sufi drums, conjuring the dual worlds Baba Michael Hamza inhabited: one Islamic, the other ancestral.
The film opens in Umlazi, presenting its richness and complexity—not through a lens of poverty, but with an eye for its beauty, colours, and the subtle connections that tie people to place. Here, we encounter Baba Michael Hamza in his Park. What makes this park remarkable? Its trees, its flora, and the original tree inscribed with a haunting message: “1976, How Long?”
MEET our Special MEntion
Prize Winner
Antony Njoroge, Kenya
Antony Mwangi is a filmmaker and video editor with a passion for storytelling and environmental conservation. He began filmmaking at age 10, inspired by Sarafina! and Blood Diamond, and joined the TEK film club to nurture his skills. After studying at Multichoice Talent Factory, he worked on Selina and later became editor for Salem (2022–2024). Now director of Unplug Africa Limited, he’s partnered with BBC Storyworks, Netflix, Al Jazeera, and others. His short documentary If Turtle Could Talk was nominated at two Oscar-qualifying festivals, leading to a turtle conservation feature. He’s developing a film about Aja, a refugee in Kakuma, exploring trauma and resilience. Antony is also part of BIORESCUE, working to save the northern white rhino.
📽️ Memo
‘MEMO’ follows Memo Some, a dedicated conservationist who combines art and technology to save the last northern white rhinos from extinction. Memo’s innovative approach involves organizing an event that unites graffiti artists and graphic designers to support the conservation campaign through their creative work.
The event features vibrant graffiti murals displayed throughout Nairobi, including a prominent installation at Uhuru Park gardens. These murals, created by talented artists, serve as powerful visual statements about the urgent need to save the northern white rhinos. To enhance their impact, the graffiti will be transformed into interactive 3D experiences through collaboration with graphic designers using VR and AR technology.
For more information on NEWF Story Labs and the Next Chapter Winners, please mail us at storylabs@newf.co.za.
About the Next Chapter Live Pitch:
The NEWF Next Chapter Live Pitch is dedicated to advancing African nature, environment, and wildlife storytelling through mentorship and grant funding opportunities that seek to support the continual professional development of storytellers who have already produced work. Established to empower local voices and preserve Africa’s natural history, NEWF supports inclusive and equitable access to storytelling platforms. An integral part of our mission work as we grow is ensuring that this generation of storytellers will be well-equipped to mentor the next generation of authentic voices, continuing to build a more equitable industry that amplifies more diverse African identities and perspectives.
