Florence Ayisi 

• Name : Florence Itale Ayisi
  
  
• Job Title : Reader in Documentary Film
  
  
• Email Address : Florence.ayisi@newport.ac.uk
  
  
• Contact Number : 01633 432619
  
  
• Campus : City Centre
  
  
• Academic Faculty/School/Department : School of Film Photography and Digital Media, Faculty of Arts and Business
  
  
• Research Centre or Group : PSMGR (Performance and Screen Media Research Group)
  
  
• Biography : Florence has taught media and film studies at several Higher Education institutions in the U.K. for over 15 years, including University of Sunderland, Coventry University and University of Glamorgan. She currently teaches documentary Film History, Theory and Practice, including producing, directing, transnational documentary and cultural representations. She is also an award winning documentary filmmaker, and has made documentary films in Cameroon and Tanzania. Her first feature-length documentary film, Sisters in Law, (co-directed by Kim Longinotto, 2005), has won over 28 prestigious awards including PRIX ART ET ESSAI at Cannes film festival; Grierson Award for Best Documentary on a Contemporary Issue; Audience Award at International Documentary Festival Amsterdam (IDFA); and Peabody Award in USA. It was short-listed for Oscar Nominations in 2006. Her films have been screened on major television channels including Channel 4 Television, More4 TV, Canal+, TV5 Monde Afrique, RFO (France), PBS (USA) and Swedish Television (STV).
  
  
• Academic & Professional Qualifications :
  • Certificate in Higher Education (Cert Ed)   (1997) - School of Education, University of Sunderland, U.K.  
  • MA in Film Production (1992)
Northern School of Film and Television -
Leeds Metropolitan University, U.K.
  • MA in Theatre and Media Production (1989) - The University of Hull, U.K                       
  • Diploma in Television Production and Journalism (1987), Television Training Centre, Fulham Studios, London
  • Bachelor of Arts in English (1986)
- Faculty of Modern Letters and Social Sciences - University of Yaoundé, Cameroon, Central Africa.
    
    
• Professional Bodies & Memberships:
  • MeCCSA – Member - Media, Communications and Cultural Studies Association
  • EDN: Member - European Documentary Network
  • WAA: Member - Women’s Arts Association, Wales, UK
    
    
• Grants Awarded : Awarded the UK Film Council Breakthrough Brits Award for Film Talent, in 2008
  
  
• Research Interests : Her research is mainly practice-based, and draws on ideas and concepts related to post-colonial theory, cultural representations, transnational cinemas, film audience reception, African Diaspora studies, feminism, and ethnographic film. Her films portray affirmative aspects of African people and cultures, and also celebrate how women’s work and visions are at the vanguard of social and economic development. She has also written and continues to develop text-based research on topics including African film audiences, and the visibility of African people and cultures.
  
  
• Publications
  Her publications include:
  
         Book Chapter
  • Forthcoming, ‘How We Live Today’ – chapter contribution in, Diasporic Futures: Women, Arts and Globalization. Edited by Marsha Meskimmon and Dorothy Rowe. Published by Manchester University Press (2012
    
    Filmography:
  • 1. Art of this Pace: Women Artists in Cameroon (2011, 40 mins)
  • 2. Zanzibar Soccer Queens (2007/2008, 87 & 52 mins)
  • 3. Our World in Zanzibar (2007, 35 mins)
  • 4. Sisters in Law (Florence Ayisi & Kim Longinotto, 2005, 104 mins)
  • 5. My Mother: Isange (2005, 7 minutes)
    
    Selected Public Screenings/Exhibitions of the films above:
    
    Art of this Pace: Women Artists in Cameroon
  • Moderna Museét (The Modern Museum) in Stockholm, Sweden, 2011.
  • Filmafrikana, Norway, 2011
  • Images of Black Women film festival, London, 2011
    
    Zanzibar Soccer Queens
  • STV – (Swedish Television)
  • Qatar TV
  • RFO Television, France
  • TV5 Monde Afrique, France
  • The Community Channel Television
  • Goteborg International Film Festival, Sweden
  • Canadian Sports Film Festival
  • FESPACO, Burkina Faso
  • Zanzibar International Film Festival, ZIFF
  • ICA (Institute of Contemporary Arts), London,
  • Women Make Waves Film Festival, Taiwan
  • Chapter Arts Cinema, Cardiff, Wales
  • Hawaii International Film Festival, HIFF
  • Films from the South Festival, Oslo, Norway
  • Cambridge African Film Festival
  • Regent Park Film Festival, Toronto
  • International Women’s Film Festival in Seoul (IWFFIS), Korea
  • Africa Diaspora Film Festival, (ADFF)
  • CinemAfrica, Stockholm, Sweden,
  • Africa on Screen Film Festival, South Africa
  • NatFilm Festival, Denmark,
  • Ankara International Film festival, Turkey
  • Pink Apple Film festival, Zurich, Switzerland
  • Women’s film festival in Chennai, India
  • CINEMARKT Brunnenpassage in Vienna, Austria
  • Sunny Side of the Doc, France
  • FilmInitiativ Köln, Germany
    
    Our World in Zanzibar
  • Chapter Arts Cinema, Cardiff, Wales, U.K.
  • Cambridge African Film Festival, U.K.
  • The New Face of Africa Film Series (SLC Film Center), Utah, USA
  • Zanzibar International Film Festival, (ZIFF)
    
    Sisters in Law
  • Channel 4 TV, U.K.
  • PBS, USA
  • MORE4 TV, U.K.
  • Canal+ (France)
  • London International film festival
  • Leeds international film festival
  • Toronto International Film Festival
  • Telluride Film Festival, USA
  • Denver International Film Festival
  • St. Louis International Film Festival
  • Montreal International Film Festival of New Cinema
  • High Falls Film Festival
  • Vancouver International Film Festival
  • Virginia Film Festival
  • Margaret Mead Film Festival
  • Puerto Vallarta Film Festival 
  • Palm Springs International Film Festival
  • Philadelphia Film Festival
  • Buenos Aires International Independent Film Festival
    
    Selected Awards for Sisters in Law
  • Prix Art et Essai and Special Mention Europa Cinemas - Cannes film festival, France
  • Best Documentary Film, Hawaii International Film Festival
  • Audience Award, International Documentary Festival, Amsterdam (IDFA)
  • Best Documentary on a Contemporary Issue, Grierson Award, U.K.
  • Social Justice Award for Documentary Film, Santa Barbara International Film Festival (USA)
  • Audience Award, Royal Anthropological Institute Film Festival (UK)
  • Best International Documentary, Real Life on Film Festival, Melbourne (Australia)
  • Best International Film, Tel-Aviv Intl Documentary Film Festival
  • First Maysles Award, Belfast Film Festival
  • Jury Prize, Long Feature Film, Human Rights Nights Film Festival, Bologna, Italy
  • Audience Award, Commonwealth Film Festival
  • Golden Centaur, Grand Prix, Message to Man, St Petersburg, Russia
  • Best Documentary, Batumi Film Festival, Georgia
  • Women Film Critics Circle, Adrienne Shelly Award, USA
  • Best Factual Programme Broadcast Awards, London
  • UK Best Single Documentary, Royal Television Society Awards
  • TVG Award, Play Doc, Spain
  • Audience Award, Nuremberg Human Rights film festival, Germany
  • Peabody Award, USA – for outstanding achievement in Electronic Media
    
    MY MOTHER: ISANGE 
  • National Museum and Galleries of Wales, Cardiff
  • Riverfront Cinema, Newport
  • Real Life Documentary Film Festival, Ghana
  • Chapter Arts Cinema, Cardiff
  • Pontardawe Arts Centre, Wales
    
    
• Public engagement activities and esteem indicators:
  
          She has been Jury Member at the following film festival and media events:
  • International Documentary Festival Madrid (DOCUMENTAMADRID), Spain
  • Kenyan International film festival, in Nairobi
  • Evora International Short Film Festival, FIKE Portugal
  • Zanzibar International film festival – ZIFF
  • One World Broadcasting Trust ‘Television Awards’, London
  • First Films – a Community Arts initiative for Young People in Newport and run by Pilipala Films, and funded by Newport Arts Development.