South Africa

Dara Kell is an award-winning South African filmmaker and editor. She was co-editor of The Reckoning (Sundance Film Festival, 2009) and was an additional editor on the Academy Award-nominated Jesus Camp. She has since edited documentaries about prison reform, LGBT rights, Head Start and domestic violence. As part of a coalition of grassroots community organizations, she spent many years working with youth across the United States developing collaborative films to strengthen their work on healthcare and housing rights issues. She has trained young people who are now leaders in dozens of groups across the country, including the Media Mobilizing Project in Philadelphia and United Workers in Baltimore. In South Africa, she edited Courting Justice, which profiles five indomitable female judges charged with the task of advancing human rights and enacting transitional justice. Dara studied Journalism and Political Science at Rhodes University, and won the top prize for her student film about motherhood and AIDS. She is a recipient of Participant Media's Outstanding Filmmaker Award, representing Africa. Dear Mandela, co-directed with Christopher Nizza, is her first feature-length documentary. Dara is a recipient of the 2015 Zoetrope Fiction Award. She serves on the Advisory Committee of the Science & Technology Train, bringing cutting edge STEM education to rural youth in South Africa. In 2016, Dara founded Brava Media, a story consultancy that helps non-profits elevate their impact. Her work has been supported by the Sundance Institute, the New York State Council on the Arts and the Ford Foundation.

Filmography

Indlini Yam / In My House (2003)
Dear Mandela (2012)
The Parking Lot - Don't evict people from their homes for the next World Cup( (2014)
The artist: They spent billions for stadiums and forgot about us - Children Win (2014)
The Bullet - Police Violence in Complexo Da Mare (2015)