Lydia Matata is a filmmaker from Nairobi, Kenya who is interested in making films about the issues, experiences and people that move her. She is a writer on Country Queen, Kenya’s first drama series on Netflix. Her films include Sungura, a narrative short that screened at the Pan African Film Festival at Cannes and has won several awards including the Best Extended Cinema Award at the Malatesta Short Film Festival in Italy and the Best Women in Film Award at Ghana’s Black Star International Film Festival.

She co-wrote the short film Ziwa with Samuel Tebandeke. The film had its premiere at FESPACO and has recently screened at the Zanzibar International Short Film Festival. Her documentary short Utapata Mwingine received the Best Emerging Filmmaker Award at the UN Women’s Global Film Festival. Her latest film, A Conversation Between Two Artists, is a documentary that was filmed between Kenya and Japan as part of a residency by UNESCO and the Nara International Film Festival for African Women Filmmakers.

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