Milisuthando Bongela
South Africa; United States of America
Milisuthando Bongela-Davis is an award-winning writer, editor, cultural worker, and artist. Her career began in the fashion industry, but the last sixteen years have seen her traverse the worlds of music, art, media, and film—continually turning towards indigenous knowledge systems.
She was the editor of the arts and culture pages of South Africa’s Mail & Guardian, and a host and co-producer of the podcast Umoya: On African Spirituality, with Athambile Masola. In 2023, her first-ever film, a personal essay documentary titled MILISUTHANDO, had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival, was the opening film for the Encounters South African International Documentary Festival, and was selected for MoMA’s New Directors/New Films programme. MILISUTHANDO has been nominated for and won multiple awards for its groundbreaking form, subject matter, and approach to personal filmmaking.
Milisuthando is an inaugural fellow of the 2020 Women at Sundance ❘ Adobe Fellowship and is currently working on her second film, an experimental short silent film commissioned by Neo Muyanga, at William Kentridge’s Centre for the Less Good Idea in Johannesburg.
