Newf Fellows Summit Brings Together 70 African Wildlife Filmmakers to Advance Continental Storytelling
Non-profit organisation Nature, Environment and Wildlife Filmmakers (Newf) hosted its Fellows Summit at Bayala Safari Lodge in the Zuka Private Game Reserve in KwaZulu-Natal, bringing together 70 fellows from across Africa for a week of skills development, collaboration, and strategic planning. The summit forms part of the organisation's Africa Refocused programme, run in partnership with the National Geographic Society, which is now in its fifth year and has grown to a pan-African network of more than 370 fellows across 35 countries. The programme's central aim is to shift the narrative around African storytelling so that the continent's stories are increasingly told by Africans and from African perspectives, with conservation and economic development identified as key areas where this shift is most needed.
National Geographic Society Chief Storytelling Officer Kaitlin Yarnall noted that African filmmakers bring a distinct advantage through deep local knowledge - cultural, ecological, and linguistic - and that the primary barrier has never been talent but access to equipment, training, and opportunity. KZN Tourism and Film Authority spokesperson Pinky Radebe highlighted the summit's role in positioning KwaZulu-Natal as a production hub within the global creative economy. Among those benefiting from the programme are interns Thembeka Zulu, now involved in diving projects and conservation fieldwork including the Frogs of Mbazwana project, and Fisokuhle Zikhali, who has transitioned from maintenance work to media training and aspires to a career in wildlife filmmaking. Newf co-founder Noel Kok said the next phase of the programme will focus on ensuring African voices are not only present in the industry but are actively leading the conversation.
Source: The Witness
