DOK Industry Podcast
Docubox: How to Build a Film Community
Through this lively and frank conversation, audiences will understand what a growing community of filmmakers can achieve.
The arts are an integral part of national identity, but little film funding exists in most parts of Africa. Docubox, East Africa’s first independent film fund started by filmmakers for filmmakers in 2013, was founded to support talented and passionate independent African documentary filmmakers with financial and knowledge-based support. The goal is to challenge ideas and assumptions about Africa and the world, engage local and international audiences, and provoke dialogue and debate.
Join Docubox’s founder, Judy Kibinge, as she speaks with three of the fund’s very first grantees on a trip down memory lane. Together, Judy, Maia Lekow (“The Letter”, and the upcoming “How to Build A Library”), Toni Kamau (“I Am Samuel”, “Softie”, “Battle for Laikipia”), and Zippy Kimundu (“Our Land, Our Freedom”) will discuss the key factors that led to the fund's creation and more.
Through this lively and frank conversation, audiences will gain insight into the obstacles faced and get a glimpse of what a growing community of filmmakers, working together to collaborate, exchange ideas, and grow, can achieve.
Length: 53:43
Recorded on October 13, 2024
Moderator: Judy Kibinge
Moderator
Founder DOCUBOX, Director and Writer DOCUBOX The East African Film Fund: Executive Director and Founder
Judy Kibinge began her career in advertising as Creative Director of a multinational agency leading Pan African campaigns for global brands such as Coca-Cola. She has written and directed several award winning fiction and documentary films.
In 2013, she founded DOCUBOX, Sub Saharan Africa’s first homegrown fund and hub for independent filmmakers. In 2021, she was named Most Influential Woman in Film at the Women in Film Awards (Kenya). She is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture and Sciences and sat on the Documentary Branch Committee from 2018-2024. She’s building an exciting new real estate venture, KEJA designed to unlock East African Creative Economy.
Filmography:
“Dangerous Affair”, 2002, Writer and Director
“Something Necessary”, 2016, Director, and Story Adaptation
“The Letter”, 2019, Executive Producer
Guests
Filmmaker, Film Composer and Musician Director of Circle and Square Productions
Maia Lekow is an award-winning Kenyan filmmaker and musician whose work seamlessly blends her deep love for music with a keen fascination for people and culture. Known for creating multi-layered, intimate character studies, Maia co-directs films with her husband, Christopher King. Their debut feature-documentary, The Letter, Kenya’s official selection to the 93rd Academy Awards, delves into the inter-generational conflicts in coastal Kenya, Maia’s ancestral home. Maia also composed the film’s original score, collaborating with Emmy Award-winning composer Ken Myhr.
In 2013, Maia was named a UNHCR goodwill ambassador, and her powerful song “Uko Wapi” earned her an African Movie Academy Award. Currently, Maia and Christopher are directing two highly anticipated projects.
Filmography:
“The Letter”, 2019, Director, Producer and Composer
“How to Build a Library”, 2025, Director, Producer and Composer (Post-production)
Untitled Kenyan Politics Project, 2026, Director, Producer and Composer (Post-production)
Creative Producer, Filmmaker and Service Producer Producer, We Are Not The Machine
Toni Kamau is the 2024 Sundance Amazon MGM non fiction producing prize winner, as well as a News Emmy and Peabody-nominated producer and founder of the Kenyan based “We Are Not the Machine” – which tells stories of African outsiders, rebels and changemakers for global audiences.
Past commissioned and service produced content has aired on Bloomberg, VOA, ARTE Digital, BBC World and Al Jazeera. Recent independent feature producing credits include "Softie" (Sundance 2020), "I Am Samuel" (Hot Docs 2020) and "The Battle for Laikipia," (Sundance 2024).
Toni is currently in development and production on a diverse slate of factual and scripted projects, collaborating with filmmakers from across the world.
Filmography:
“The Battle For Laikipia”, 2024, Producer
“I am Samuel”, 2020, Producer
“Softie”, 2020, Producer
Photo Credit: Eterno concepts, Kenya
Producer, Director Founder and Director of Afrofilms International
Zippy is an award-winning Kenyan Filmmaker who has been working in the global industry for nearly two decades. She holds a Masters in Fine Arts from New York University and has worked globally in over 20 countries. She co-directed a short Documentary, ‘a fork, a spoon & a KNIGHT’ with renowned Director Mira Nair, and was the Assistant Editor on the Disney Film ‘Queen of Katwe’. Her latest Feature Documentary ‘Our Land, Our Freedom', had it's World Premiere at IDFA 2023 and continues to create Impact.
Zippy is a film Educator at “I’ll Tell You My Story” and founder of “Afrofilms International” a creative collective working to ignite socio-political consciousness and action, across continents.
Filmography:
“Our Land, Our Freedom”, 2023, Co-director, Co-Producer
“Mercy”, 2022, Director, Co-Writer
“A fork, a Spoon and a KNIGHT”, Co-Writer, Co-Director
DOK Industry Podcast 2024 is realised in partnership with POC2 Programmers of Colour Collective and What’s Up With Docs Podcast, and supported by Docs-in-Orbit and film.macht.kritisch - The podcast about the *other* cinema.
DOK Industry is realised with the support of Creative Europe MEDIA Programme of the European Union, the Mitteldeutsche Medienförderung (MDM) and the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media upon a Decision of the German Bundestag.
Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the MEDIA sub-programme of Creative Europe. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.
