Sunshine Cinema

Sydelle Willow Smith is a documentarian and media advocacy strategist working working across Africa, based in Cape Town, born in Johannesburg. Her studies included an Honours Degree in Visual Anthropology at UCT, and a Msc in African Studies from The University of Oxford. Her academic research has focused on the politics of participatory visual research dynamics. In 2017, Sydelle and her husband Rowan Pybus co-founded the solar powered mobile cinema non-profit network Sunshine Cinema. Sunshine Cinema celebrates the power of storytelling to inspire communities to drive social change through dialogue and action. Through capacitating and resourcing youth to become Sunbox Ambassadors from communities with extremely high rates of youth unemployment, equipping them with media facilitation skills and a mobile solar cinema kit (the Sunbox) to spark conversation, whilst giving audiences tools to inspire social action. Alongside screenings, they focuses on media training and developing public engagement interventions using VR.

We capacitate youth media entrepreneurs from rural and peri urban areas in South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Malawi. These Ambassadors are trained in media facilitation and equipped with a mobile solar cinema kit (the Sunbox) loaded with a range of award winning African films and documentaries. We promote diverse narratives, local civil society groups, and advocacy resources through our film screenings and the podcast series called The SunCloud - a youth led current affairs podcast that captures public opinion about socioeconomic inequalities. Across our programmes our core focus areas are threefold. Firstly, youth economic development - we aim to improve career paths by developing journalism, facilitation, event management and enhanced financial literacy skills. Secondly, diverse media access -  We are promoting independent media and building a network of spaces for grassroots activists to speak to local audiences. Thirdly, we are developing tools to promote citizens rights and access to policymakers.

We are building pathways for African audiences to access African Cinema, developing local demand. The continent has the world's youngest population, and the creative industry has an important role to play in job creation. The film industry contributes a substantial amount to the GDP of countries like South Africa creating over 20 000 jobs. However the industry is largely service driven and has a very low commercial success rate in terms of a cinema going audience - creating only $89.6 million in terms of revenue from ticket sales. Meanwhile countries like Zambia, Zimbabwe and Malawi face even bigger challenges with a dearth of cinemas and very fragile local film industries. According to recent digital marketing reports about 40 percent of Africans are online.  However limited signal and exorbitant costs of data mean that many people remain digitally excluded from accessing online streaming platforms and social media.  Since 2017, we have been able to hold over 5000 community based screening events, reaching over 30 000 audience members in rural and peri urban sites in Southern Africa. The majority of our audiences are young people, but older people do attend which leads to meaningful intergenerational conversations at the post screening events.

In 2021-2022: A network of 10-15 Sunbox Ambassadors in South Africa, Malawi , Zimbabwe and Rwanda will be taken through a 12 Month impact producing accredited course. The course curriculum will be developed in collaboration with Doc Society, and Stepping Stones film training program at UCT. Alongside the theory component, Ambassadors will be trained to produce their own content, with a camera sponsorship from Canon. We will enhance their storytelling skills and understanding of decolonial film history through the virtual masterclasses with the select award winning filmmakers. The Ambassadors will participate in bimonthly whatsap webinars focusing on journalism ethics, podcast & reporting skills, and using social media for community mobilisation and advocacy in collaboration with partners such as Witness, & Film Aid International. We are building the capacity of African youth to tell their own stories and engage their communities around the issues and challenges that concern them most, harnessed by the power of film. They will host monthly free solar powered screenings of African film titles for 12 months on our mini cinema kits (The Sunbox) that spark conversation and collect valuable data on film audience development in rural parts of Southern Africa. 

The project sites are in peri urban & rural parts of Southern and Central Africa. In these areas there is a huge lack of access to information. Many rural communities face digital barriers to accessing valuable information. The areas where we work face rising unemployment levels and digital exclusion. Our screenings are free to the public to insure democratic access to our content. Online engagement is dynamic in that we share our podcasts on data free websites, as well as Whatsapp Broadcast lists that use a limited amount of data. Our media interventions are inexpensive for our audience members to ensure wide reach and that’s also why they are solar powered. We are building the capacity of African youth to tell their own stories and engage their communities around the issues and challenges that concern them most, harnessed by the power of film. Furthermore the COVID19 pandemic has created an urgent need to amplify our online reach. Many audience members are digitally excluded from cyber citizenship due to the exorbitant costs of data. To mitigate this we have developed a zero rated podcast series The SunCloud that is hosted on a data free site.

The cost of not having access to information contributes to young people being stuck in cycles of poverty, and social injustice. In the communities where we work there is a huge lack of access to contemporary local social justice content or inclusive community dialogue spaces. Our goals are to ensure that young people are able to use visual storytelling to assert their rights, tell their own stories, and gain access to income. We are building a decentralized network of online and offline distribution and discussion around films, videos, and informational content that speaks to the needs of local communities.

In 2013 Johannesburg-born filmmakers Sydelle Willow Smith and husband Rowan Pybus were working in Zambia with charcoal burner-turned-tree conservationist Lloyd Maanyina on a short film called Amazing Grace. Their production company Makhulu Media followed the ‘forest hero’ on his personal journey planting trees with Greenpop’s first ‘Trees for Zambia’ project. Lloyd addresses the destruction he has caused from charcoal burning and sets up a micro-nursery instead. It won no less than six awards – from the UN to National Geographic. The documentary storytellers knew it was vital to enable people in Lloyd’s community to see the film and spread his deep-seated love for the forests – but with Zambia’s high data costs and low energy, distribution was a challenge. As the trees grew, so did Sunshine Cinema. Since 2013 over 20,000 audience members across Southern Africa have enjoyed these educational and compelling screenings. Driven by a desire to create dialogue, and passionate about sustainable energy, Sunshine Cinema is not just about the films. It brings people together to uplift grassroots movements, creating networks of social change through an alternative distribution platform. 

I live in one of the most unequal countries in the world, where youth unemployment is over 50%. Within this context I am moved by empathy and the resilience of people to seek grassroots solutions to problems they face.  I am a photographer & filmmaker working across Africa focusing on memory, migration and identity. One of the most important features of my photographic work that has influenced my development of Sunshine Cinema is the drive to make powerful content accessible to public against the backdrop of the exclusive nature of Cinema complexes. It is within the context of public participation that I am most inspired, drawing together my research in media, anthropology, and socio-political interventions as I believe stories can move people to shift their perceptions, which can lead to positive action. The core goal of Sunshine Cinema is to support communities who are inclusive in dialogue and action and who drive social change. Film brings people together and the events become an opportunity for long lasting community mobilisation strategies. Therefore, Sunshine Cinema contributes to social change by highlighting environment and social justice issues using the power of film, while providing a space to converse and grapple with these challenges.

I am a photographer & video director working across Africa focusing on memory, migration and identity. For the past five years I have been working on a personal photo project; focusing on white South Africans conceptions of belonging in relation to settler colonial histories entitled Un/Settled that was recently exhibited at Photoville New York, and was showcased in public exhibition format until the end of January 2020 in the Company Gardens in Cape Town. I have most recently been selected as one of the 2020 Atlantic Philanthropies Racial Equity Fellows based on this work. One of the most important features of my photographic work that has influenced my development of Sunshine Cinema is the drive to make powerful content accessible to public audiences experimenting with modes of public participation. If you want to make work for the echo chamber of people who look and think like you, then the internet is a fair platform for that kind of thing. But I think because we live in such an unequal society, especially when it comes to things like digital access, I’m interested in making sure that the content is widely available to a broader audience. They get left out of the picture a lot of the time, yet they’ll often be the subjects of the work.It is within the context of public participation that I am most inspired , drawing together my research in media, anthropology, and socio-political interventions.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the ban on public gatherings in early 2020, we were compelled to innovate and pivot.  The last few months have been challenging as we have not been able to host screenings, but they have also given us the space to reflect, and strategise. We have come up with the idea for the impact producer course, thus expanding our model. While our Sunbox Ambassadors are driving powerful conversations, demanding that youth voices be heard concerning the most pressing issues facing their communities through podcasts. Our online podcast series is called the SunCloud (https://soundcloud.com/user-88...)Many audience members we reach are excluded from cyber citizenship due to the exorbitant costs of data. To mitigate this we have collaborated with whatsap webinars, community radio & a zero rated website to freely host the content. The Suncloud branch of our approach marks the beginning of our journey as an organisation delving into online media training and we look forward to the partnerships and opportunities this will create, in the face of a global pandemic we have expanded and grown our model for impact media distribution. 

Growing up in a Jewish household fuelled by the activism of my grandmother who was a member of the Black Sash I thought I had my own racial prejudices figured out. In 2015 I was called out on social media by Black activists for documenting and publishing a story on OkayAfrica about the removal of the Rhodes statue during the Fees Must Fall protests. They told me it was not my story to tell and I was blocking their narrative. I remember feeling rejected, and hurt. This inspired me to begin Un/Settled - a long term documentary project exploring white South Africans conceptions of belonging in relation to settler colonial histories. Yet, I often feel overwhelmed by the pressure of constantly trying to source funding that I find myself acting out of fear rather than trust towards my diverse team - actions that are not reflective of someone in a leadership role who is really unpacking the effect of their whiteness and power dynamics within any given space. This is why I am personally so invested in creating spaces for inclusive dialogue, because without such spaces for raw dialogue how will we really engage the embedded inequalities blocking progression?

We are the first solar powered mobile cinema network of this scale. Our model is unique in terms of the impact producing training component for the  Ambassadors as well as the Sunbox Mobile cinema solar powered innovation. This provides a way for countless organisations to mobilise their network through face to face engagements. Our screenings become a platform for civil society organisations to reach audiences in innovative ways. Schools request Ambassadors to do regular screenings as they see the behavioural change in their students, and the power of film as an educational tool. Ambassadors hold screenings at local clinics in the waiting room, and are often invited back due to the increase in the number of people coming for sexual health services such as HIV testing, based on the informative and entertaining value that the screenings offer in the waiting rooms. Our podcasts create a space for filmmakers whose work we showcase to engage our Ambassadors and learn more about how their films are received in diverse audience contexts. Our podcasts showcase the work of local partners where the Ambassadors are based, providing a platform for key information to be shared with a wider audience. Our Whatsapp Webinar training sessions are open to youth media producers from a range of organisations to ensure that key information about using social media for advocacy, and improving interviewing skills facilitated by experts from organisations such as WITNESS are shared with as wide an audience as possible.

Our project goal is to build communities who are inclusive in dialogue and action and who drive social change. Sunshine Cinema capacitates and resources Sunbox Ambassadors through continued media and facilitation training. The purpose of this training is to equip Sunbox Ambassadors with the necessary knowledge and skills to host and facilitate film screenings of African films. The training of the Sunbox Ambassadors includes event planning and management, safety and security, legal film distribution, audience engagement through dialogue facilitation, podcast production, and data collection about the films and the resulting impact. In addition to their capacity building activities, Sunshine Cinema provides the Sunbox Ambassadors with a Sunbox, a mobile solar-powered cinema innovation which is loaded with African films. These films are secured through the promotion of Sunshine Cinema within the local film industry and the support of local filmmakers and impact producers. These filmmakers are passionate about ensuring access to films for diverse communities, many of which do not have access to film due to a lack of local cinemas and the price of cinema tickets. The use of solar technology as part of the Sunbox as well as the promotion of the renewable energy sources highlights alternate energy sources to target communities. The various actions noted above all will ensure that the Sunbox Ambassadors are equipped with the necessary knowledge, skills and resources to host podcast interviews, and free public screenings of African films and to facilitate community dialogue platforms post screenings in geographically isolated communities. The screenings are of locally relevant films which cover conversations and the global climate crisis, human rights, and active citizenship. Sunshine Cinema’s theory of change proposes that these outcomes will contribute towards an increase in knowledge of available community based services and organisations as well as an increase in knowledge on core themes. The post-screening audience discussion will contribute to audience members developing new narratives and notions about gender, sexuality, cultural and religious norms, and conservation. The increased knowledge and newly developed narratives will contribute to an increased salience of active citizenship and inclusive dialogue and action within the community.

Since 2013 we have screened to over 20000 direct audiences across Southern Africa. We host large scale screenings in partnership with relevant venues, or use our mobile cinema van to screen to up to 500 people at a time. We train youth to be impact producers from select communities hosting free regular film screenings (for up to 50 people at a time) on mini cinema kits (the Sunbox). On average each Ambassador hosts 24 screenings a year reaching 50 people on each screening - currently reaching around 12 000. With over 20 proposed Ambassadors in the next year we can estimate that we will reach over 24000 in 2021, doubling each year at a steady & sustainable rate. 

OUR VISION FOR 2021- 2025 The continent has the worlds youngest population, and the creative industry has an important role to play in job creation.

-In 2021-2022 : A network of 10-15 new Sunbox Ambassadors in South Africa, Malawi , Zimbabwe and Rwanda will be taken through a 12 Month impact producing accredited course. The course curriculum will be developed in collaboration with Doc Society, and Stepping Stones film training program at UCT. We will use an online platform to run the course such as Coursera. 

-Alongside the theory component, Ambassadors will be trained to produce their own content, with a camera sponsorship from Canon.

-The Ambassadors will participate in bimonthly whatsapp webinars focusing on journalism ethics, podcast & reporting skills, and using social media for community mobilisation and advocacy in collaboration with partners such as Witness, and Film Aid International.

-They will host monthly free solar powered screenings of African film titles for 12 months on our mini cinema kits (The Sunbox) that spark conversation and collect valuable data on film audience development.  In 2021 we want to expand our Sunbox Ambassadorship program in South Africa, Malawi, Zimbabwe,  and Rwanda, with plans to then assess scaleability into East & West Africa in 2022-2023. We want to develop the social franchise aspect of the Sunbox Model to ease fundraising needs, and we want to the directorship is inclusive of the spaces we work and not run solely by the two co-founders. 

I do not want the success and long term sustainability of the Sunshine Cinema model to rely on my day to day involvement. I want to pass the baton on one day, and want to build structures and pathways to financial remuneration that would allow me to step down as Executive director in the next 10 years so that the organisation can evolve and adapt, and not carry a singular vision. The main challenge facing African cinema used to be the making of films now it is to reach wider audiences more effectively, creating markets that support the sustainability of African Cinema. Creative industries are integral for job creation. We are promoting award winning African cinema and building a network of youth entrepreneurs who develop spaces for grassroots activists to mobilise communities. Another big challenge that we face is that we are a small team, and our core operational costs are not completely funded by the grants we do receive. We have to scrape our salaries and office overheads off the tops of the project budget but we still often fall short. This means that myself and fellow co-founder Rowan Pybus often find ourselves still focusing on production work for extra income through our production company Makhulu Media. While this work is rewarding and meaningful and we enjoy it, it detracts our time and attention from building the long term Sunshine Cinema business model in a way that would allow us to really expand sustainably.

Sunshine Cinema has been the most ambitious project I have been part of to date. I have learnt so much from so many different aspects of building it. From the legalities, to building relationships with funders, to working with diverse young people who come from challenging socioeconomic backgrounds. The biggest personal growth in the last 5 years has been about working in a team and becoming a leader who trusts and believes in the capacity of those around them. Coming from a documentary photography background, I was used to working alone on shoots within local contexts - sometimes with a communications advisor from the client at most. I’ve never had to manage a whole team, track large budgets, produce diverse shooting requirements and post production schedules, solve challenging solar cinema tour schedules, curate diverse film programming, oversee monitoring and evaluation strategies and training development. Through fellowships recently secured such as the Mastercard Berlinale Talents Footprint program as well as the AFRE Racial Equity fellowship I am able to access leadership coaching, business support and resources to aid our growth and tackle the challenges we face. We are also part of a network of incredible organisations funded by the likes of DGMT who regularly offer us impact and communication support courses to amplify our approach. However the biggest challenge always remains securing long term funding which is why it is so important for us to put ourselves out there on a global scale to grow our network and potential reach. 

Makhulu Media - Founded in 2004, Makhulu is an award-winning film, photography and media agency based in Cape Town, South Africa. They support us technically and select our projects carefully because we believe that purpose takes precedence over profit. 

FilmAid International and Witness is a global organization that partners with us in supporting webinar media advocacy and training for our Ambassadors.

NGO partners: Internews, CITE, Kubatana, ZACRAS, Agents of Change, Rainforest Alliance support us in selection of films and screening, audience resources and participation. 

Our key partners for accessing youth audiences are the Redbull Music Studio, Childrens’ Radio Foundation & ACTIVATE! Change Drivers who provide a network of young people passionate about media to apply for Sunbox Ambassadorships. They bring key audience members to participate in the post-screening discussion groups and help grow the network of impact for the Sunbox Ambassador programme at a grassroots level. 

Other relevant potential partnerships include - SAE Film School (we have run a scholarship program with them in the past), Shnit Film Festival, Encounters Documentary Film Festival, Jozi Film Festival, Documentary Filmmakers Association, Stepping Stones Film Training, Centre for Film and Media Studies

BRITDOC Society, IDFA Global Impact Producer Group, Centre for Film and Media studies (Stepping Stones) (UCT) support us in developing the curriculum for the impact producing course for accreditation, and sourcing relevant filmmakers for Masterclasses.

Our approach contributes to an ecosystem that can build effective pathways to sustainable film audiences and markets on the African continent. Focusing on distribution, creates more audience demand. Developing Ambassadors business skills & capacity - complement the creative and technical skills shortages in the industry. In the last two years previous Ambassadors have gone on to develop their own digital media platforms, bought land for farming, or completed tertiary studies based on the income that their stipend affords. Many have highlighted the power of the experience in teaching them how to mobilise community networks, organise events, and facilitate social justice dialogue sessions about key issues shifting their own views and understanding. We have linked them to a range of career development platforms and the demand for their skills in community mobilisation are sought after. Yet they did not have access to a fully fledged and accredited impact producer course. We believe this adaption will help secure employment for future Ambassadors. The demand to build public engagement spaces at a grassroots level is not going to diminish. The solutions to complex global issues that have a direct effect on a local level are going to come from small rooms filled with innovative minds. These grassroots voices require tools to amplify their solutions as well as solutions found next door to them and further afield and that is the model that the SunBox and Sunshine Cinema provides.

The demand to build public engagement spaces is not going to diminish. Grassroots voices need a tool to amplify their solutions as well as solutions found next door to them and further afield. The Sunbox provides a way for countless organisations to mobilise their network through face to face engagements. In the last 2 years we have successfully raised  funding to run various projects, but still struggle to access operational funding to cover our day to day costs. This is why we want to ensure we have a profit making component to our projects, so as to not solely rely on fundraising. We have proven that off the back of successful implementation and mentoring, the need and the longevity of the Sunbox concept. We are planning to adapt the Sunbox to make it market ready at a sustainable price for social gain and for profit that will then feed into our non profit and allows to access funds to do other non profit activities. Every month we get requests from 3rd party filmmakers, activist organisations, training institutions and renewable energy platforms to purchase Sunbox Kits for their use. So far we have sold Sunboxes to the Lilongwe Wildlife Trust in Malawi and Working Films in North Carolina in America. We believe that we have the capacity to build a social franchise model for the Sunbox innovation to ensure sustainability and not have to rely solely on funding.

1. Funder: DG Murray Trust 

Funds: $52,773.30

Time Slot: October 2019-March 2021 

Objective/Support: (Ongoing) Sunbox Program - To explore a new approach community activation and involvement that draws on the idea of inspirational and recreational community events. Screenings on hold due to COVID-19 lockdown, Ambassadors hosting podcasts in the interim.

2. Funder: Participant Media 

Funds: $15,000 

Time Slot: Feb 2020 - March 2020

Purpose: The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind impact tour (Malawi, Zimbabwe, South Africa)

3. Funder: INTERNEWS, Zimbabwean Media Development Program

 Funds: $46,000 

Time Slot: 2020- 2020

4. Funder: UTZ/Rainforest Alliance 

Funds: $16,384.35

Time Slot: 2019 - 2020

Objective/Support:  Training department

5. Funder: Movies That Matter 

Funds: $10,000 

Time Slot: 2018 - 2020

Support of Sunshine Cinema outreach screenings

6. Funder: Open Society Public Health 

Funds: $17000

Time Slot: 2019 - 2019

Objective/Support: Preview Tour of From Durban to Tomorrow Film

7. Funder: NHIV/FPD Gates Foundation 

Funds: $54,534.84

Time Slot: 2019 - 2019

Objective/Support: 360HIV Choice VR Film Series and Case Study

8. Funder: Integrity Icon - Accountability Lab 

Funds: $10,906.77 

Time Slot: 2019 - 2019

Integrity Icon Profiles and

Film Fellowship

9. Funder: Bertha Foundation 

Funds: $40,000

Time Slot: October 2018- November 2019

Objective/Support: Overhead/Operational Funding for Sunbox Ambassadorship Network

We are actively fundraising by approaching existing funders, and new potential grant makers to develop the impact producer course curriculum over the next 5 years and expand the Ambassadorship network. We are also fundraising to fine tune the Sunbox concept to make it easily available to third parties to purchase. We are aiming to raise roughly $300 000 to expand our network in 2021 and from there aim to work with an operational budget of between $500 000 - $600 000 per annum over the next 5 years. 

One of my biggest concerns about our current model that I really want to address with this opportunity, is what happens to the existing Sunbox Ambassadors once funding runs out to cover their monthly stipend. The program is only meant to run for 12 months - but during that period a strong cinema going - community mobilisation culture is built. Furthermore youth unemployment is so high, so many of the Ambassadors then face unemployment once the Ambassadorship ends. We train them in career development skills, but have not yet cracked the nut of how to actually link them to full time employment opportunities in media industries based on the experience and skills they garner with us. We believe that there are far greater opportunities we could access to achieve sustainability. For example in the renewable energy space with the right contacts, through forging a long- term partnership with a solar provider in the next five years to bring the cost down of Sunboxes.  We would like to patent the prototype of the Sunbox, and develop it as a set kit with the right product development partner. Furthermore, we need to have a stronger footprint in the distribution and international /sales space. Sadly, often filmmakers who want to work with us sign deals that prohibit them from hosting free outreach screenings which means we must pay third party sales entities individual license fees per screening which are marked at commercial prices, even though we  work in the outreach and development space.

We need to fine tune our hybrid funding model in terms of grants and the Sunbox as a product for profit. In terms of expanding we need mentorship and coaching support to build structures for long term sustainability so that the project can grow without the day - to day involvement of the co-founders to create space for inclusivity. Currently our board members are majority South African based. We would benefit from expanding our network to Europe and the US to access wider funding and networking opportunities, through a more comprehensive and diverse board structure. Furthermore we would like to try register as a legal non profit in both the US and UK to expand fundraising opportunities. While we have a good baseline for our M&E and Theory of Change, as we grow we need to adapt it and develop systems to capture it across diverse project outcomes.

We believe in networks of support, and that is why we are working on ways to access in depth mentorship and coaching from diverse leaders in both the US, Europe and Africa. We need to fundraise to pay for the curriculum development of our impact producer course , forging partnerships with DocSociety as well as the likes of Coursera for the online training.  In terms of our model it is highly beneficial for us to grow our network in the American filmmaking space, particularly with the likes of Avu Duvernay and Array as they are so passionate about ensuring more diverse voices have a platform to be heard. Our current online reach is small and we need to amplify our work online in order to secure long term partnerships with the likes of VOD platforms such as Netflix