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About Us
OUR STORY
We employ the following methodology to achieve our goals:
AFRICAN VOICES Cinema Series is a nonprofit media arts organization that is committed to presenting film and video projects that feature the artistic talents of African filmmakers, throughout the African Diaspora, to an international audience. We firmly believe that film and video have the unmatched power to bring fourth understanding, empathy, and active support from the global community, which is necessary to actualize the social, political, and economic change that is desperately needed throughout many communities of the African Diaspora.
We employ the following methodology to achieve our goals:
•Creating, organizing, and producing opportunities to exhibit and promote the distribution of films that are directed, produced,
and/or written by an individual of the African Diaspora in the US and abroad.
•Donating and/or lending production equipment and professional services for film and video
production that is directed, produced, written, and/or features an individual of the
African Diaspora in the US and abroad.
•Creating and producing workshops, seminars and internship/mentorship opportunities that provide skills-training to aspiring film professionals of the African Diaspora in the US and abroad.
•Providing story development and physical production consultation for filmmakers of the African Diaspora in the US and abroad.
•Creating and producing workshops, seminars and internship/mentorship opportunities that provide skills-training to aspiring film professionals of the African Diaspora in the US and abroad.
•Providing story development and physical production consultation for filmmakers of the African Diaspora in the US and abroad.
FOUNDER
Sharifa Johka
Producer
Sharifa Johka
Producer
Sharifa
Johka is an independent film and television producer with a strong
background in feature film development, acquisitions, and co-production
financing. Johka began her professional career working in Acquisitions
& Co-Productions at New Line Cinema / Fine Line Features. During that
time she was responsible for tracking film projects in all stages of
development and production for worldwide distribution consideration. In
addition, she was responsible for the internal management of all development and production projects for Fine Line Features.
In 2006, Johka founded the AFRICAN VOICES Cinema Series (AVCS). In this capacity, she has produced programs and provided services for film festivals, cultural arts institutions and government agencies in the US and abroad.
Most recently, Johka served as Executive Producer of the BET J television series AFRICANA!, which highlights films produced and/or directed by international filmmakers of the African Diaspora.In addition to her production credits, Ms. Johka is a highly sought after lecturer who has conducted production and screenwriting workshops around the world. Her workshops are designed to provide professional skills training and access to production opportunities for aspiring filmmakers who live in regions where access to professional training and funding is extremely challenging.
Johka is a graduate of the University of Southern California, where she attended the prestigious School of Cinematic Arts and received a Student Academy Award for her compelling documentary THE MIRROR LIED, which she produced. In addition, she is a J. Paul Getty Arts Fellowship recipient, a working member of Film Independent (FIND) and serves on the Advisory Board for their mentoring program, Project: Involve.
ADVISORY COUNCIL
President, AVCS Board
Dr. Jude G. Akudinobi
Dr.
Akudinobi earned his PhD in Cinematic Arts from the University of
Southern California, Los Angeles, and teaches in the Department of
Black Studies, at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Dr.
Akudinobi’s interests span the complexities of cultural politics, media
and cinematic representations.
Director of Special Projects
Alyss Dixson
For five years, Alyss Dixson acted as the principal executive and producer at
Rat Entertainment with Brett Ratner working on films like RUSH HOUR, FAMILY MAN, PAID IN FULL
(Dimension/Miramax) and as an associate producer on DOUBLE TAKE
(Disney). In 2001, she joined Paramount Pictures as a Vice President of
Production, Worldwide. Writer Mollie Gregory featured Ms. Dixson in her
book WOMEN WHO RUN THE SHOW (St. Martin's Press 2000). Alyss received a BA in Comparative Literature from Yale.
Filmmaker
Koffi Nartey
Koffi Nartey is the President of the Directors Guild of Ghana (DGG). An award winning filmmaker in his own right, Nartey has worked over 25 years in the multimedia industry in Ghana and throughout West Africa. His work as a Director an Producer spans the mediums of film and televison. His work includes the award winning films PRECIPES, BLEMISH, and BACK HOME AGAIN. Film Critics and Scholars, Imruh Bakari and Mbye Cham, featured BACK HOME AGAIN in their book AFRICAN EXPERIENCES OF CINEMA (British Film Institute 1996). He is a working member of the Ghana Academy of
Film and Television Arts (GAFTA) and is a graduate of Ghana's prestigious National Film and Television Institute (NAFTI).
Filmmaker, Artist
Moussa Sene Absa
Moussa Sene Absa overflows with creativity. He is an artist, writer, musician, and a film director. He made his debut as an actor, then moved to directing with the production of his own stage play, La Légende de Ruba. In cinema, he wrote the screenplay for Les Enfants de Dieu, which was honored at the Francophone Film Festival. His directorial film debut, the short film LE PRIX DU MENSONGE, earned him the Silver Tanit at the Carthage Film Festival in 1988. His film, TABLEAU FERRAILE, won the award for best photography at FESPACO 1997. His next work, MADAME BROUETTE, won the Silver Bear at Berlin Film Festival 2003. He has also produced a popular daily comedy sketch, 400 PIECES/GORGORLU, for Senegalese television. His talent as a painter is also well established and his work has been exhibited in Senegal, Europe and North America.
Filmmaker, Artist
Moussa Sene Absa
Moussa Sene Absa overflows with creativity. He is an artist, writer, musician, and a film director. He made his debut as an actor, then moved to directing with the production of his own stage play, La Légende de Ruba. In cinema, he wrote the screenplay for Les Enfants de Dieu, which was honored at the Francophone Film Festival. His directorial film debut, the short film LE PRIX DU MENSONGE, earned him the Silver Tanit at the Carthage Film Festival in 1988. His film, TABLEAU FERRAILE, won the award for best photography at FESPACO 1997. His next work, MADAME BROUETTE, won the Silver Bear at Berlin Film Festival 2003. He has also produced a popular daily comedy sketch, 400 PIECES/GORGORLU, for Senegalese television. His talent as a painter is also well established and his work has been exhibited in Senegal, Europe and North America.