Our Team

Meet the Team

Ayanda Halimana is a Screenwriter, Script Editor, Story Development Consultant and Screenwriting Workshop Facilitator. She has worked at both SABC and M-Net as Commissioning Editor. Some of the projects she worked on include Isibaya, Idols 10, Saints and Sinners to mention a few. She is actively involved in the industry and is currently the Vice-Chair of the Writers Guild of South Africa. She is working on her feature Film "One Day in June" which won second prize at the CTI (TIFF) 2019 and also won at JETS 2020 held during Berlinale. Ayanda has served as Head Writer on a total of 8 Dramas, as well as Script Editor and Story Consultant. She has worked on award- nominated TV dramas. Some of her screen credits includes It’s Complicated (M-Net), Mfolozi Street (SABC1), Isikizi (M-Net), iKani and the most watched series in SA for 2019, Makoti. She’s the Script Editor on the Feature Film “Uncovered” released theatrically in 2019 and now on Netflix and was the development producer and script mentor on the NFVF’s Female Only film slate 2016, 2019 and 2020. Ayanda is also script editor, mentor & trainer for the KwaZulu-Natal Film Commission, and the NFVF’s Spark programme.

Cait Pansegrouw is a multi-talented producer and casting director that has worked internationally for the past 7 years. Cait is a SAFTA-winner with work that has travelled to Sundance, Berlinale, Venice, Durban and FESPACO, to name a few. In 2018 she was included on the Mail & Guardian’s Top 200 Young South Africans list. Her work has been supported by public and private funding globally. Inxeba (The Wound), which she produced and cast directed screened at more than 60 festivals worldwide, winning 28 awards, including 6 SAFTAs. It was also selected as South Africa’s official entry for the Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film in 2018, making it to the December shortlist of 9 films. Most recently, her feature film This Is Not A Burial, It's A Resurrection, shot entirely in the remote mountains of Lesotho, was awarded the Jury Prize for Visionary Filmmaking at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival, where it premiered. This film has gone on to win 26 more awards and continues to compete at festivals. In 2020, it was announced as Lesotho’s first ever entry to both the Oscars and the Golden Globes. Cait serves as Co-founder and Director of Artistic Operations for the Realness Institute, which strives to foster a new wave of African cinema. Her passion for development and working closely with filmmakers has equipped her to deliver 5 successful editions of the Realness Residency.  Cait is a Durban Talents, Berlinale Talents, La Fabrique Cinema de L’Institut Francais, EAVE Producer’s Workshop and Biennale College - Cinema alumna. 

Brazilian born Producer, Elias Ribeiro has worked internationally since 1999. A resident in South Africa for over a decade, he launched Urucu, a production company dedicated to making authentic and thought- provoking content, in 2011. Urucu’s films have won awards from Sundance to BFI London, Durban, Rio and Beijing. They have sold worldwide to theatrical distributors, broadcasters and SVOD platforms. In 2015 Ribeiro co-founded the Realness African Screenwriters Residency, an incubator that has developed 30 audio-visual projects in over 16 Africa countries. It evolved into the Realness Institute, now housing 5 capacity building programs in the creative industry. The Institution caters to writers, producers, directors, programmers, sales & distribution professionals, episodic content creators and development executives. He served as jury member for film funds like Hubert Bals and as a mentor in multiple labs across the globe for emerging producers, including Open Doors and Maisha. The most successful film out of the 7 features he has under his belt, INXEBA was shortlisted for an Oscar after winning 6 SAFTAS and 29 international awards. A leader in his field, he is often a speaker and moderator in Industry events and helmed in 2018 the Cape Town International Film Market & Industry Program. Elias was recently appointed by the Locarno Film Festival as a regional manager of the Southern Africa Industry Academy. He is an advisory board member to screenworlds.org and ladima.africa.

In her 20-year strong creative journey, Mmabatho has worked as a producer, broadcaster (SABC, Kwese TV, TopTV), development executive as well as a script consultant. Roles that have harnessed her love for story and helping writers find their voice as storytellers. Her catalogue of work, as a script consultant, ranges from novel adaptations to politically potent films brought to life through titles such Kalushi: The Solomon Mahlangu Story and the sequel to Happiness is a Four Letter Word – Happiness Ever After. Mmabatho’s creative flair has also been injected outside South Africa as a consultant on the award-winning Lesotho based film This is not a Burial, it’s a Resurrection (Venice Biennale College Cinema 2019, Visionary Award winner Sundance 2019)

In 2017 Mmabatho was invited to co-mentor in REALNESS, a Pan-African writing residency. Beyond Realness; she has mentored on the Canal+  Poland Series Lab (2021), The Philippines (Full Circle Lab 2019 and 2020), Maisha Producers Lab (Uganda 2019), Jumpstart PRODUIRE AU SUD (South Africa 2019 and 2020), For Film’s Sake- Attagirl Lab (Australia 2020), The Pro Series Lab (Kenya 2020), BoostNL (Netherlands Film Festival/IFFR 2020), Dramatic Producer’s Lab (Ethiopia 2019). In addition to being a mentor, she has had the honour of being invited to participate in The Torino Script Lab (2018), EAVE (European Audio Visual Entrepreneurs 2020) and The Rotterdam Producer’s Lab (2020).

Selina Ukwuoma is a freelance script consultant who began her career at literary agency Curtis Brown working on theatre, film and television projects including 2008 BAFTA winner BOY A.

She has since gone on to advise on award-winning indies such as 2014 Teddy winner THE WAY HE LOOKS and last year’s Goyas triumph SUMMER 1993. As well as consulting for production companies and designing and running development initiatives such as Realness Screenwriters’ Residency and the Film Prize of the Robert Bosch Foundation, Selina teaches screenwriting at the UK’s National Film and Television School and regularly mentors and leads workshops at film festivals, including Berlinale Talents Script Station, TIFF Writers’ Studio, Talents Sarajevo Pack&Pitch, and CTIFMF ADAPT. Prior to her career in the film industry, Selina travelled, taught English, and completed degrees in screenwriting, professional writing, and social anthropology.

She has various interests but is always keen to learn something new.

Thandeka joined the film Industry in 2004, working in production at the digital film pioneer production company DV8 Films on films such as Max and Mona, The Flyer and Bunny Chow. After leaving DV8 Films to freelance, she worked as a Line Producer for a number of local film and television projects. After completing the SEDIBA course in script editing, she was approached by the National Film and Video Foundation in 2011, to be part of a team responsible for developing and promoting South African films, both locally and internationally. In this time, Thandeka was fortunate to represent the South African film industry at prestigious platforms such as the Cannes Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival, Pan African Film Festival and the Independent Filmmaker Project (No Borders) on multiple occasions allowing her the privilege of getting great insight into the global film industry and more importantly how to navigate it as an African film industry partner. Since leaving the NFVF, she has worked in film completion bonding with Film Finances Incorporated, and in 2018, she joined Indigenous Film Distribution as Development and Production Executive to complete her journey through the film value chain.