BY Nkosazana Ngwadla
It’s no secret that the African film and TV business is very male dominated behind the camera. But it is female creatives such as Mmabatho Montsho, who are determined to break the layers of marginalization in the sector, that inspire many aspiring female creatives wanting to break into the industry.
Mmabatho is a multi-award-winning writer and director based in Johannesburg, South Africa. She launched her writer-director career with her first short film, The Groom’s Price. This premiered to a viewership of over 4million on the South African Broadcast Corporation television.
Her subsequent short films, The Award Ceremony and Joko Ya Hao, have been selected in various international film festivals, with Joko Ya Hao nominated for Best Short Film at the South Africa Film & Television Awards, and The Award Ceremony, winning Best Short Film at the Worldwide Women’s Film Festival. She boasts extensive experience as a television director, across various genres and formats.
Mmabatho’s a force to be reckoned with in her industry, and she keeps collecting those awards! Her latest film, written by Lindiwe Suttle Müller-Westernhagen, recently won Best Narrative Short at the Uptilt Film Fest in the USA – a body that shines a light on short films that are written and/or directed by women or gender expansive folks who identify with womanhood.
Desmond’s Not Here Anymore follows a devoted daughter who is confronted with a painful family secret as she tries to care for her mother with dementia. It leans in on the personal horrors each character is dealing with dark family history, toxic sexuality, and the terrors of remembering and forgetting.
Mmabatho led a global group of filmmakers from Seattle, Los Angeles, Johannesburg, Berlin, New York with 26 of the 37 crew being women.
