FESTIVAL FOUNDER AND DIRECTOR
Called by TIME magazine “a Chicago-born Swazi,” James Tjekisa Hall is a filmmaker, journalist and author.  A graduate of the University of Southern California’s Division of Cinema and long-time resident of Swaziland, Hall is a senior Umbutfo (Swazi warrior) of Swazi King Mswati III’s Inyatsi (African buffalo) regiment, where he was named Tjekisa by the tribal elders during initiation rituals.  A trained African healer (or Sangoma, the title of his 1994 memoirs published by G.P. Putnam in New York), Hall is married to a Swazi of the Kunene clan, with a daughter by her, Nomoya, and an adopted son, Vusi.  He originated the idea of an African short film festival after his own short films and documentaries where shown in festivals in Europe and the Americas.

Claude Gonin – Director of Alliance Française du Swaziland, Claude has brought Swazis singers, poets and artists worldwide attention.

Gigi Nkosi – Philanthropist and attorney, Gigi, a former Miss Swaziland and arts supporter, also runs Swaziland’s first urban-based daycare center for OVC (orphans and vulnerable children), Gigi’s Place.

Sindi Nxumalo – Actress and President of the Mbabane Theatre Club, Sindi was the most prominent Swazi thespian to appear in Richard Grant’s auto-bio pic Wah Wah, shot in Mbabane and released this past year.