Helga has spent more than 30years in the Canadian film and TV industry as both a filmmaker and a professor. Her filmmaking experience stretches from researching to writing and budgeting, to directing, producing and editing. She won many awards for her work and was recognized as a film doctor. Her greatest passion however, was making long format science and social science documentaries. Her independently produced films have been shown on Discovery Canada, The Life Network, Canal Plus, the CBC, Radio Canada, and CTV, and have appeared in the USA, England, Turkey, Australia, Germany, France and Japan. One of her documentaries was selected by Discovery Canada to kick off the Canadian Discovery Channel at Hot Docs in 1996. She also has extensive teaching experience at both the community college and university levels and taught courses in visual language, film aesthetics, filmmaking, documentary production, editing, cinematography, storytelling, media writing, editing concepts, production budgeting, and information and communication theory. She and her husband combined their filmmaking knowledge and experiences to create workshops for burgeoning filmmakers in Ghana and Namibia which is how she first got involved with BSIFF.

Apiorkor is a Ghanaian-American Poet, Writer/Author, Literary Scholar and Critic, Media Practitioner, TED Speaker, Activist and Versatile Creative of Ga-Daŋme and Ewe ancestry. Her work is noted for its rare narrative, prosaic, journalistic nature, which is uncommon in Poetry. The sharp, vivid imagery of my pieces has been featured in many journals and academic theses. She reads her Poetry on stage and often infuses it with varied music forms, Contemporary Dance and alternative Art. Over the past three and a half years, she has led a campaign to have Ghanaian (and African) Poets, Poetry, and Artists properly documented in local media sources and on Wikipedia. This has led to the gains that the Wikimedia User Group in Ghana is currently making, in this regard. Additionally, Apiorkor is a member of the Poetry Association of Ghana's Executive Board and a Director-At-Large of the Democrats Abroad Africa Committee's ExCom, as the Coordinator of Democrats Abroad - Ghana. She is the Head of Programmes Production at Accra-based Citi 97.3 FM and Citi TV, where she is also a Broadcaster and Producer. She teaches, mentors and counsels Poets, Writers, Creatives and young people (especially young women).

Kofi is a multi-disciplinary artist and creative entrepreneur who has been actively involved in private business ventures in the creative sector and is an advocate for the re-thinking, realization and creation of sustainable structures and frameworks for the arts in Ghana and Africa. His creative work is expansive with a practice at an intersection of film, still and motion-graphics, 2D and 3D animation, visual effects, record production, ethnomusicology, sound design, foley, ADR, writing and arranging across multiple genres, tracking, mixing, FoH, Cue and Monitor for sound reinforcement/ live sound, film scores, acoustic design solutions, studio design, advertising campaigns and brand audits, print and digital design, painting and sculpture and cymatics. Kofi has worked on several independent film productions and television series, and with multiple artists locally and internationally across multiple genres.

Nico Abote is a passionate Broadcast Media-Communications Specialist with over 14 years’ experience within the film and television industry. He received special training in broadcast media, TV broadcasting from Journalism Institute of South Africa and is currently studying Film & Video Production at Toronto Film School. His professional interests focus on television/film production as a director, producer and editor. Currently working as the Digital Broadcast Production Manager & Producer at Western Standard New Media Inc. He is also leading the following projects: The Dance Matchmaker TV Series as Director, The War-Hammer Documentary Series as Director, Play Afrika TV Platform + Content development, as the Executive Producer and Co-Founder, and other media related consultancy work in Canada & across Africa. He is also a member of Calgary Society of Independent Filmmakers (CSIF), holds a permit with IATSE Local 212. Nico is also the Lead Production Executive with the Canada University Shooting Federation (CUSF) and also serves with The Gold-Mind Project as media producer among other organizations in Canada & Africa. In addition, he serves as board member for Chengeto Africa, a Southern African based non-profit, that utilizes Media as a form to advocate for women & girl child rights.

Writer and Director, Farai, has over 15 years experience in the industry with written work that has gone into production and publishing in Zimbabwe. On top of writing for Film with credits including the documentary film ‘Absolute Jiti: The Bhundu Boys’ Story (2007) and TV ‘The Team’ (2012), Farai has written extensively for Radio and Theatre as well. His directing credits are mostly for theatre including working as a Consultant for the Harare International Festival of the Arts (HIFA) for over ten years.
Farai also served as Festival Director for the Zimbabwe International Film Festival for four years between 2013 -2016 editions. Farai currently lives and works in London, United Kingdom.