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.

Sheila Feruzi Kassim is the Co-Programs Manager at Realness Institute and a filmmaker dedicated to amplifying underrepresented voices in cinema. She co-founded Vuma Projects, a platform championing Afro-Norwegian and POC storytelling through art, and literature. A former Junior Producer at Mer Film, she contributed to The War Sailor (Norway’s 2022 Oscar entry, later a Netflix series) and Touda. A Bergen’s Top 30 Under 30 honoree and Creative Producer Indaba alumna, she is committed to developing bold, globally resonant narratives.

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 Screenwriters 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).

Mehret Mandefro is an Emmy-nominated producer, writer, and entrepreneur dedicated to using storytelling for social change. She co-founded Truth Aid in the U.S. and later established A51 Pictures in Ethiopia and the Realness Institute in South Africa. Her credits include Difret (Netflix), Little White Lie (PBS), Sweetness in the Belly (Amazon), How It Feels to Be Free (American Masters), and Cost of Inheritance (PBS). A member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and the American Television Academy, her films and television shows have set ratings records and been successfully released in theaters around the world. She was most recently the Executive Producer of Ethiopia’s largest general entertainment channel Kana Television. Her track record scaling businesses from launch has made her a global leader in the screen sector and secured her a spot on Variety’s 2021 list of most impactful women in global entertainment. She lives and works in Ethiopia and the United States and is a champion of the creative arts as a path to developing a more just society. She is a sought after speaker on this topic and recently gave a TED talk on the job-creating, democracy saving power of the creative industries in Africa. To learn more about Mehret visit: www.drmehret.com

Brazilian born Producer, Elias Ribeiro has worked internationally since 1999 and 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 in 2019 which is home to 5 capacity building programs in the film and television sector. 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 and was Executive Director of Realness Institute from 2019-2024.

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.