Artistry

In my filmmaking, I explore intimate and poetic narratives about childhood, memory, regeneration, intergenerational patterns and nature.

I have garnered various awards including but not only, The Ecumenical Jury Prize at Internationale Kurzfilmtage Oberhausen 2017 for Seeds and Best Documentary at Academy Qualifying, Durban International Film Festival 2018 for New Moon, a feature-length documentary essay shot in Lamu, Kenya. A film which took me eight years to make.

My works have been supported by Creative Europe, British Film Institute, IDFA Bertha Fund, Goethe Institut, the British Council, Goteborg International Film Festival Fund and Docubox EADFF.  They have been exhibited at Turner Contemporary (UK, 2017), The National Museum (Kenya, 2013) and in collaboration with The Sundance Institute at MoCADA (New York City, 2011).

An alumna of Berlinale Talents 2016, IDFA Summer School 2013 (Amsterdam), Produire au Sud 2011 (Nantes), I am also a fellow of RAW Académie 2016 (Dakar).  My films have screened at numerous film festivals worldwide including Kurzfilmtage Oberhausen and Clermont-Ferrand.  Self-taught in documentary and shooting with a camera, I have filmed, directed, recorded sound for, produced and promoted my documentary work myself.

I have a BA in Script Writing and Directing for Fiction from AFDA, Cape Town (2008) and a Certificate in Writing the TV Bible from NFTS, London (2021).

Awards

New Moon (Feature-Length Documentary, 2018, Dir. Philippa Ndisi-Herrmann)

Best Documentary at Durban International Film Festival 2018

(Automatic 91st Academy Awards Qualifier, The first African documentary to win in 39 years)

Ladima African Women Documentary Filmmaker at ZIFF 2018

Artistic Achievement Award in A Long Documentary at the Luxor African Film Festival 2018 

Seeds (Short Essay, 2016, Dir. Philippa Ndisi-Herrmann)

Ecumenical Jury Award at Internationale Kurzfilmtage Oberhausen 2017

Honorary Distinction at International Short Film Festival Cyprus 2017    

Grants

2023 Creative Europe Development Grant (Crossing Worlds) 

2022 British Council Mobility Grant UK (Abrekum - Litany for the Complicit Sea) 

2020 BFI Early Development Grant (Crossing Worlds) 

2018 Docubox EADFF Grant (Abrekum - Litany for the Complicit Sea) 

2018 British Council Catalyst Grant Kenya

2017 British Council Mobility Grant Kenya

2014 Docubox EADFF Grant (New Moon) 

2013 IDFA Bertha Fund (New Moon) 

2013 Goethe Institut Nairobi commission to organise, The Rhythm of our Dreams, a retrospective journey of Kenya’s Independence through curated moving images and various DJ sets

2011 Gothenburg International Film Festival Fund (New Moon)  

2010 Goethe Institut Nairobi commission to direct two Music Videos as part of BLNRB

Reviews

“Her personal wrangling forms the lifeblood of a film infused with the sincere — and ultimately human search to make sense of a chaotic existence." 

- Sophie Monks Kaufman on New Moon in Vice

"It is so beautifully filmed and photographed, such use of colour, art and expression....It is Philippa. Personal, questioning, intimate, close." 

- Don Edkins, International Filmmaker and Producer about New Moon 

"This artistic treasure is poetic, gentle and metaphorical...Its dialogues with images are outstanding; the photos make the audience pause and feel the stillness." 

- Prize of the Ecumenical Jury, Oberhausen 2017 for Seeds

Nominations

Abrekum (Litany for the Complicit Sea) (Essay, 2022, 9 mins, Dir. Philippa Ndisi-Herrmann)

International Competition at Kurzfilmtage Oberhausen, Germany, 2022

I Had to Bury Cucu (Short Fiction, 2018, 14 mins, Dir.  Philippa Ndisi-Herrmann)

Ciné Regards Africains, Paris, France, 2021

International Competition at Tampere International Film Festival, Finland, 2020

International Competition at FCAT Tarifa, Spain, 2019

New Moon (Feature-Length Documentary, 2018, Dir. Philippa Ndisi-Herrmann)

International Competition at FCAT Tarifa, Spain, 2019

International Competition at Cape Town International Film Market and Film Festival, South Africa, 2018

International Competition at Durban International Film Festival, South Africa, 2018

International Competition at ZIFF, Tanzania, 2018

International Competition at the Luxor African Film Festival, Egypt, 2018

Season of Goodbyes (Essay, 2018, 14 mins, Dir. Philippa Ndisi-Herrmann)

International Competition at Uppsala Short Film Festival, Sweden, 2018

UK Short Film Award at Open City Festival, England, 2018

International Competition at Kurzfilmtage Oberhausen, Germany, 2018

Seeds (Short Essay, 2016, Dir. Philippa Ndisi-Herrmann)

International Competition at Kurzfilmtage Oberhausen, Germany, 2017

International Competition at International Short Film Festival Cyprus, 2017

International Competition at Aesthetica Short Film Festival, England, 2017

Past Screenings

Abrekum (Litany for the Complicit Sea) International Competition at Kurzfilmtage Oberhausen, 2022

New Moon Luz da África, Brasilia 2021, Magical Kenya? Kino Xenix, Zurich 2021, South by South: New Contemporaries, South London Gallery 2021, SOAS, London 2020, Mostra de Cinemas Africanos, Brazil 2020, La Casa Del Cine, in Mexico City, Mexico 2019, Mostra de Cinemas Africanos, Brazil 2019, DOK.fest München 2019, NYAFF, NYC 2019, Valand Film Academy, Sweden 2019, FCAT Tarifa/Tánger 2019, AFI New African Film Festival, Washington D.C. 2019, First Wednesday Film Club at Atlas Studios, Johannesburg 2019, Film Africa, London, 2018, Africa in Motion, Scotland 2018, Cape Town International Film Market and Film Festival, South Africa 2018, Durban International Film Festival, South Africa 2018, Zanzibar International Film Festival 2018, Luxor African Film Festival, Egypt 2018

I Had to Bury Cucu Love Letters to Cinema(We are Paarbale & Manyatta), London and Nairobi, 2022, Ciné Regards Africains, Paris, France, 2021, Manyatta Screenings 2020, Tampere International Film Festival, 2020, NBO Film Fest, Nairobi, Kenya 2019, FCAT Tarifa/Tánger, Spain & Morocco 2019, Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival 2019

Season of Goodbyes Rendezvous with Madness Festival, Toronto, Canada 2021, Uppsala Short Film Festival 2018, Sweden, Open City Documentary Festival 2018, London, England, Internationale Kurzfilmtage Oberhausen 2018, Germany

Seeds Birmingham Critical Film Forum: Earthly Bodies 2022, Aesthetica Short Film Festival 2021, England, Alchemy Film and Moving Image Festival 2021, Scotland, Internationale Kurzfilmtage Oberhausen 2017, Germany, Aesthetica Short Film Festival 2017, England

Presentations

Philippa presents her art practice at St Andrews Africa Summit, Scotland 2019

With the support of CAT Cologne, Philippa presents her short works at Museum Ludwig in Köln, Germany 2019

Philippa and Felipe Castelblanco hold a Short Film Workshop with Borderless TV and CAT Cologne, in Köln, Germany 2019

Philippa presents her art practice and works at African Storytelling Summer School in Babelsberg, Germany 2019

Philippa presents her art practice at British Council Masterclass at ZIFF, Tanzania 2018