Pre-Jury - Rwanda - Science Film Festival - Knowledge Through Entertainment

A pre-jury of more than 30 local science education and science communication professionals from the participating countries are closely involved in the selection of the films.

In the region Sub-Sahara Africa the pre-jury in 2018 consisted of the following members:

Rwanda

Josiane studied Electronics and Telecommunication Engineering at the University of Rwanda campus of science and technology. She now works at the Agahozo Shalom Youth Village as science center coordinator. Here, she works hand-in-hand with science center trainers to create a fun and educational hands-on curriculum for students with the hope that they will love science and technology and consider careers in this field.

South Africa

Daksha Naran is a natural science researcher, museum practitioner and environmental educator, with a deep passion for discovering and disseminating scientific, historical and cultural aspects biodiversity. She graduated from Rhodes University, Grahamstown with an MSc in ichthyology (study of fishes). Her initial work was at the renowned fish research institute- famous for the discovery of coelacanth, The South African Institute of Biodiversity, led to research-based work in various aspects of fresh water ichthyology, including taxonomy and aquatic sciences. Following her science and education interests she worked as a teacher, lecturer, environmental consultant, mentor co-ordinator, biodiversity project manager and as a natural science collection museum educator. Exploring, discovering and researching aspects of biodiversity, and educating the public about the importance of science in society is at the core of her passion for creating platforms for driving environmental awareness and science communication activities. Currently she is working towards developing a citizen science program that links museum collections and the public.

South Africa

John is currently an independent educational consultant and holds a post-graduate degree in Science Education. He also has more than ten years’ experience working in television broadcasting and production gained while working for Mindset Television. He is particularly interested in how the creation of digital resources can enhance learning for people of all ages. John has taught Maths and Science since 1988 and has participated actively in the Science Education community. He has facilitated many workshops in South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Kenya and Rwanda.

South Africa

Diloshni has a BSc in Environmental & Life Sciences from the University of KwaZulu Natal. Her passion for science education was sparked when she joined the UNIZULU Science Centre as an intern. From there, she went on to complete her Postgraduate certificate in education focusing on Life and Natural science education. Diloshni’s roots are still firmly planted at UNIZULU working with health educational projects and she is currently completing her Honours Degree in Natural Science Education with the aim of working more closely with surrounding rural communities and educating South Africa’s youth.

Kenya

Daniel leads the team at The Discovery Centre. An engineer by profession, Daniel brings a wealth of experience from the tech world to science communication. He has communicated science concepts to the youth throughout his career, and mentored many young people since 2005, during his Masters degree.

Burkina Faso

Michel is a director, cameraman and scriptwriter. He has trained at the Burkina Faso National Cinematography Center, the Burkina Faso National Television, and Cinédoc Films, a production company in France. From 2003 to 2008, he was responsible for the Interactive Debate-Cinema at Cinomade, an association based in Burkina Faso whose objective is to create and distribute tools to increase awareness of social issues through cinema. After having worked as cameraman and assistant director for several films he wrote and directed his first documentary “Sibi, l’âme du violon” produced by Les Films du Djabadjah. “Ti-tiimou (Nos sols)” followed this, produced by Cinomade. In 2010, he co-founded the firm Diam Production, a structure for documentary film productionthat is co-producing his full-length documentary film “Espoir-Voyage” with Cinédoc Films.

Namibia

Kombada served as the National Programme Officer for Natural Sciences at UNESCO from 2017 to 2018. She is has worked various positions at the Geological Survey of Namibia since 2004 in and now heads the Geo-Information unit. Her main duties include managing access to geoscience data and information. Since 2007, she has participated in several science outreach activities including the International Year of Planet Earth, NAMSCI and most recently, the Science Week.