Kindred Spirits

Namina Forna is a young adult novelist based in Los Angeles, and the New York Times and Indie bestselling author of the epic fantasy YA novel The Gilded Ones. Originally from Sierra Leone, West Africa, she moved to the US when she was nine and has been traveling back and forth ever since. Namina loves building fantastical worlds and telling stories with fierce female leads. Namina‘s books have been translated into 25+ languages, nominated for several awards, and optioned for film and TV. Namina herself is an accomplished public speaker, especially on the topics of feminism, storytelling and challenging dominant narratives.

Tchaiko Omawale‘s filmmaking practice is influenced by her upbringing as a Third Culture Kid, and the longing to transform trauma responses to racism, deaths, and constant moving. The magic of cinema especially fantasy was a salve. Themes of the in-between in the African Diaspora, its effects on the body and spirit, fill her work. Thinking through how to decolonize her filmmaking practice has led to the understanding of her creative impulses for fantasy aren’t escapist but a connection to African Indigeneity and its healing potential. This learning generates stories, ethical practices of care, a focus on process and intuition. There is deep listening to her body, dreams, and as a new mother, the magic of her baby. Her cinematic work is shamanism, a portal to healing. Her fantasy film Sita, exhibited in the Project Row House show Black Women Artists for Black Lives Matter, co-curated by Simone Leigh. She workshopped her award-winning film Solace in a South African township. It was the first time the audience recognized self-harm in their communities with compassion. The film’s community outreach also included a conversation about food, trauma, and the Black body with Roxane Gay.

Zandashé Brown is a New Orleans based writer/director born-and-bred in and inspired by southern Louisiana. Her work raises a Black femme lens to the tradition of southern gothic horror. Zandashé’s directorial debut, Blood Runs Down, was one of five projects selected for the New Orleans Tricentennial Incubator Grant in 2018 and has gone on to screen at dozens of festivals in the US and abroad. Her short film in development, Benediction, was one of five projects selected for the 2020 Through Her Lens: Tribeca Chanel Women’s Filmmaker Program. Zandashé’s past narrative and documentary work has been supported by Kickstarter, Create Louisiana, the New Orleans Video Access Center, and the New Orleans Film Society where she now programs for the Academy-Award Qualifying New Orleans Film Festival and serves as Artist Engagement and Programming Manager.