Film Screening: Standing on Their Shoulders

Join award-winning documentary filmmaker Xoliswa Sithole for a screening and discussion of her documentary on South African women’s protest movements.

Xoliswa Sithole’s career began as an actress in the 1980s, appearing in landmark anti-apartheid films such as Cry Freedom, Mandela, and A Dry White Season. She later transitioned to producing and directing documentaries after serving as an Associate Producer at CNN International in 1998. A recipient of a Peabody Award and two BAFTA Awards for Zimbabwe’s Forgotten Children and Orphans of Inkandla, her work spans documentary, narrative, and corporate filmmaking and has been presented at major international festivals and cultural forums. Bottom of FormXoliswa Sithole is the founder of Nayanaya Pictures Pty Ltd, co-founder of Film Makers against Racism, and co-chair of the South African Documentary Filmmakers Association. Sithole also runs a gender film festival in the rural areas of South Africa, promoting social cohesion and nation-building.

In 2025–2026, the International Programs Division of the Yale Institute for the Preservation of Cultural Heritage (IPCH) invited Sithole to engage with the Yale community as part of its program featuring distinguished leaders whose work advances the understanding and preservation of cultural heritage across disciplines.

This event is a part of IPCH's Preserving Cultural Heritage Through Film series, open to the Yale community. This session is co-sponsored by the Yale Institute for the Preservation of Cultural Heritage, Yale Macmillan Center Council of African Studies, Afro-American Cultural Center, Yale Women's Center, Yale African Students Association and the Program in Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at Yale.