The Team

Sylvia is an Emmy Award-winning director-producer, with extensive credits in film, television and theatre. Having filmed on five continents Sylvia dreamt of the day her work would take her to Africa. When she met Kristen and Venance (the subjects of the film) she immediately knew that this unique friendship and journey had the makings of a fascinating documentary and as she began planning for the trek up Mt. Kilimanjaro, safari in the Serengeti and an off road trip across Tanzania she knew she was also in for the adventure of a lifetime.

Sylvia hails from NYC producing award winning independent features. The concept of story and moving a narrative forward is a constant part of her creative vision. Ten years ago she expanded into reality/documentary television working with PineRidge Film & Television directing/producing the hit series Great Hotels, Passport To Europe and Passport To Latin America. Tanzania: A Friendship Journey marks her entry into feature documentaries and she just completed her follow up doc, An Affair of the Heart  which explores the unique relationship between pop idol, Rick Springfield, and his passionately devoted fans.

Michael is one of the four original partners along with Venance, Sylvia & Kristen. of IndiGenius Films which is the founding entity that developed “Tanzania; A Friendship Journey”. Michael has an accounting background and served as the Executive Producer and fixer for “Tanzania: A Friendship Journey” which marks his first entry into film producing.

He is currently partnered with Venance Ndibalema on a new initiative the Kwanini Foundation, teaching the world to ask why? Michael has spent several months in Tanzania laying the groundwork to successfully launch Kwanini and is returning for an extended stay later this year.

Reporter, producer, on-air host, philanthropist, founder of an international non-profit program and Division-1 athlete, Kristen Kenney is that rare performer who has the versatility and hands-on competitive experience to excel on both sides of the camera.A 2006 University of Miami communications graduate, she began her broadcasting career as a reporter for WMFE-TV’s (PBS) Telly Award-winning series The Arts Connection in Orlando, FL., where she produced features on Cirque Du Soleil, Universal Studios, Disney and Broadway.

While on location in Africa, filming Tanzania: A Friendship JourneyKristen contracted malaria, a life threatening disease, which was the motivating force behind Malaika For Life — a global grassroots initiative she created to combat malaria and empower women … one bracelet at a time.

To date Malaika For Life has treated over 20,000 cases of malaria in Tanzania and has provided income opportunities for 150 vulnerable women.

Today, Kristen is a field reporter for FOX Sports Next, in which she covers the top incoming college football talent and produces original web video content for FOXSports.com.

“Knowledge is the root of rational foresight whose seed is inner freedom and its fruit outward choice”

Venance Ndibalema
Subject

Venance originates from the Haya tribe, located in the far west corner of Tanzania, just miles from the volatile nations of Rwanda, Uganda and the Congo. When he arrived in America for his university studies, it was as though he had time traveled 600 years into the future. Suddenly he had all the resources he needed to begin to find the solutions and answers to his lifelong questions. While studying Physics at the University of Miami it became clear that his studies could not only be those of physical science. He needed to understand the science of the human spirit and what committed people to an idea, a purpose or a cause.

Venance is currently working on the Kwanini Foundation, encouraging children of all ages to always search for Kwanini (“why”) in the world around them. In doing so it offers a way to raise awareness, passion and hope for emerging peoples of the world. He is also working on a Kwanini book series, an introduction of science for kids around the world. It is his hope to inspire the children of the world to always ask “Kwanini?” And if they don’t like the answer, they should work together as friends to change it and in so doing change the world. He is also completing the book,  ”The Man We Never Knew,”a comprehensive history of man’s creativity from dreams to storytelling, from storytelling to poetry and philosophy, and his ability to bring these fantasies into what he sees as reality (science).

Avril Beukes’ career in the film and television industry has spanned 3 decades. She has edited more than 25 feature films. Highlights include “Yesterday” which was nominated for the 2005 Foreign Film Academy Award and “Red Dust” starring Hilary Swank and Chiwetel Ejiofor. Before relocating to the US, Avril won numerous editing awards in South Africa for her work in film and television. Her most recent editing credit is the feature film ”Ties That Bind” starring Kimberly Elise.

After graduating from the Pratt Institute in New York in 1996, Rika Camizianos returned to South Africa to pursue a career in feature films and television. She edited numerous television sitcoms as well as documentaries. She was a co-editor on “Lullaby” starring Melissa Leo and “Number 10”, a sports drama set in the world of rugby. Upon her return to the US, Rika joined Dick Clark Productions’ Digital Division as Lead Editor and Supervisor.

Douglas recently found himself enduring crippling humidity while crashing through the thorny underbrush of a Guyana rainforest to frame an Amerindian native village, when he had an epiphany: he was born for this – to bring the unseen and misunderstood to the world. Then he pondered an even deeper notion: “Did I take my malaria pill this morning?”

With 20 years in film and television, Douglas has worked on six continents on productions ranging from series TV to feature documentaries to commercials.Some of his clients have included National Geographic, Discovery, Travel Channel, A&E, HGTV, We Channel, Verizon, T-Mobile and many more. He was also DP for Producer/Director Sylvia Caminer’s documentary portrait of rock icon Rick Springfield and his uniquely devoted fans, An Affair of the Heart. He also shot for feature doc Autism Every Day which premiered at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival and was handpicked by Oprah for an ABC Special broadcast. Network TV highlights include Nat Geo Wild’s adventure travel series, Shane Untamed; Discovery’s portrait of a homicide squad, The Shift; Travel Channel’s ground-breaking, interactive travelogue, 5 Takes; and A&E’s hard-hitting, crime expose’, The First 48. But his happiest 7 days came while shooting the punishing Kilimanjaro climb for Tanzania: A Friendship Journey. Minus 30 degrees, 60 mile per hour winds, no sleep, hungry, exhausted – he’s ready to shoot it all over again… any takers?

Francisco Aliwalas is an award-winning filmmaker based in Manhattan.   His projects encompass television series, commercials, promos, music videos, documentary, to fiction films.  His works have aired on NatGeo Wild, Sundance Channel, HGTV, Food Network, Travel Channel, NatGeo, DIY Network, Discovery Travel & Living, as well as MTV.  His short film, MR KISS,  won Best Picture, Director, and Editor at MTV World’s 72 Hour Short Film Shoot-Out and his series for Conde Naste’s Concierge.com titled 24 Hours in… won Best Online Video Series as voted by Magazine Publishers of America.

The Footnote are David Rhodes and Richard Evans. They also collaborate regularly with Hungarian composer/ conductor and arranger Peter Peijtsik.David and Richard have a long musical pedigree, having worked with and as part of Peter Gabriel’s band for over 25 years.David’s history is as a guitarist and songwriter starting his career with his band Random Hold. Pretty soon after their first tour supporting Peter Gabriel, David joined Peter Gabriel’s band and has now been working with Peter Gabriel for 30 years. During that period David also honed his skills as a record producer and began writing music for feature films. He wrote the entire scores for Lucky and Zorba (La Gabbianella e il Gatto) Dir: Enzo D’Alo (Cecci Gori Films) and L’uomo Perfetto (The Perfect Man) Dir: Daniel Lucetti (Cattleya Films). david also wrote muisic for some adverts and art house films.

Richard Evans joined Real World Studios soon after leaving university and worked as an engineer, mix engineer and record producer. As a multi instrumentalist he played various instruments on many of the albums that came through the studio and also honed his production credits. He also got the opportunity to co-write some adverts with Simon Emmerson in the early 90′s. An early production of Richards was Ayub Ogada’s En Mana Kuyayo and tracks off that album have found their way onto many Hollywood Movies including I Dreamed of Africa, The Wild Thornberries, and recently The Constant Gardener.Both David and Richard did work on Peter Gabriel’s Passion soundtrack (Music for martin Scorsese’s Last Temptation of Christ) and in the late 90’s were working together writing and producing music for Peter Gabriel projects including work with Phillipe Starck and for the Mezzo TV channel. They then collaborated with Peter Gabriel on his OVO Show (Music for the Millennium Dome) and Richard co-wrote some tracks with Peter Gabriel for that score.

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