A REEL STORY
- Jan. 24, 2022

Join Film Fatales, Breaking Through The Lens, EWA Network, and Wscripted on Friday January 28th 10am PT / 1pm ET / 7pm CET for a virtual panel discussion and international networking event.

Hosted by Akua Gyamfi of the British Blacklist, the event will begin with a 45-minute fireside chat with Moroccan-American documentary filmmaker Rita Baghdadi (Sirens) and two time Sundance Grand Jury Prize winner Ondi Timoner (Last Flight Home) to talk about the art of telling underrepresented stories for the screen.

Following the talk will be a curated networking session, where writers and directors will be invited to join genre-based breakout rooms to discuss storytelling for Film & TV, learn from each other and meet potential creative partners. This event will offer meaningful insight into the process of telling underrepresented stories, while providing an opportunity for writers and directors of all marginalized genders to connect with fellow storytellers from across North America & Europe.

We invite all participants to fill out this Skill Share Form in advance to build deeper connections. Responses will be shared during the event.

The networking session will not be recorded to create a safer space for active participation.

RSVP HERE


Akua Gyamfi has over 20 years of experience in the entertainment industry, with a career spanning fashion, film, television, theatre, print, and online media. In 2012 Akua founded The British Blacklist a platform that celebrates the talents of British Black creatives across Screen, Stage, Literature, and Sound. She also produces podcasts Your Aunties Could Never (popular culture, and TBB Talks (interviews with Black creatives from around the globe). Alongside writer/producer Leon Mayne, Akua is the co-creator/co-exec producer and host of industry round table series The Circle. In 2019 Akua joined forces with Soul Film, The New Black Film Collective, and We Are Parable to launch the S.O.U.L. Film Festival, an annual event that showcases the best of Black filmmakers and content creators from the UK and the wider Diaspora.



Ondi Timoner is an internationally-acclaimed filmmaker whose work focuses on "impossible visionaries" (and LAST FLIGHT HOME is no different.) She has the rare distinction of winning the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance twice, for DIG! (2004) about the collision of art and commerce and WE LIVE IN PUBLIC (2009) about the loss of privacy online as predicted in a bunker in NY over the turn of the millenium. Both films were acquired by MoMA NY for its permanent collection. Since then, Ondi's created award-winning films / series such as JOIN US about mind control, COOL IT about climate change, BRAND: A Second Coming about the transformation of Russell Brand, JUNGLETOWN about an intentional community in remote Panama, COMING CLEAN about the opioid crisis, and MAPPLETHORPE a film she also wrote and produced about Robert Mapplethorpe starring Matt Smith (recommend the Director's Cut on Hulu). She's currently directing a feature about the disruption and decentralization of finance. Ondi is an active member of the DGA, PGA and Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences.



Rita Baghdadi is a Moroccan-American filmmaker whose character-driven films have been supported by Film Independent, the Tribeca Film Institute, ITVS, IFP and the International Documentary Association, and have screened in festivals worldwide including SXSW, DOC NYC and the Los Angeles Film Festival. In 2007 Rita graduated from Columbia College Chicago with a B.A. in Film and in 2011 she co-founded Endless Eye, a production company based out of Los Angeles. When she's not filming Rita is an active mentor, dedicated to empowering women and girls through film training, and she's usually trying to find a horse to ride.