Zina Saro-Wiwa
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Zina Saro-Wiwa is a British Nigerian filmmaker, writer and reporter. She has been a presenter and producer for the BBC and is the director of the award-winning documentary This is my Africa.
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[edit] Early life and education
Saro-Wiwa was born in Port Harcourt, Nigeria in 1976. Her late father, Ken Saro-Wiwa, was a Nigerian environmental and human rights activist.
[edit] Television and Radio career
Saro-Wiwa has worked for BBC Television and BBC Radio for much of her career. She was a presenter for BBC Two's arts magazine program, The Culture Show, from 2004 to 2008, and she has worked as a researcher, producer and presenter on BBC Radio 4 programs including You & Yours, Woman's Hour, Home Truths, and The Long View. She has also worked as a producer and presenter for the BBC World Service and BBC Radio 3, and she has been a columnist for Home Truths and the World Service arts program, The Ticket.
[edit] Film
Saro-Wiwa began her career as a filmmaker with 2002's Bossa: The New Wave, a film about contemporary Bossa Nova music, which she directed and produced. She went on to direct and produce Hello Nigeria! (2004), which examines Nigerian society through the Nigerian celebrity and high society magazine, Ovation. Hello Nigeria! was screened at the New York African Film Festival in 2004.
In 2008, Saro-Wiwa directed This Is My Africa (2008), which explores African culture through the anecdotes and commentary of London-based Africans and Africaphiles. Interviewees include artist Yinka Shonibare, actor Colin Firth, filmmaker John Akomfrah, Channel 4 News anchor Jon Snow, and actor Chiwetel Ejiofor. The film was screened at numerous film festivals worldwide, including the New York African Film Festival, the Cambridge African Film Festival and Real Life Film Festival Accra. It won best documentary short at the International Black Docufest 2008, and premiered on HBO in February 2010.
The Film Society of Lincoln Center described her as one of the emerging African women directors who "challenge and question the taboo traditions of the Continent and the Black community at large."[1]
[edit] Writing
Saro-Wiwa’s first short story, His Eyes Were Shining Like a Child], was published by Sable LitMag in 2009. Her short story, Lola of the Red Oil, appeared in a book about voodoo for Riflemaker gallery
[edit] Other interests
Saro-Wiwa recently founded AfricaLab, which, according to its website, is an organization dedicated to changing the way the world sees Africa through multimedia production.
Saro-Wiwa has also acted as an advisor for the British Council's music unit and is a judge for the Africa in Motion Film Festival short film competition
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- Biography on bbc.co.uk
- Interview on Telegraph.co.uk
- AfricaLab
- Lola of the Red Oil by Zara Saro-Wiwa
- Africa in Motion - African Film Festival
