Xoliswa Sithole (born 31 December 1968) is a South African actress and documentary filmmaker, raised in Zimbabwe. she won a BAFTA in 2004 for her documentary ''Orphans Of Nkandla''. She won a

Peabody Award The George Foster Peabody Awards (or simply Peabody Awards or the Peabodys) program, named for the American businessman and philanthropist George Peabody, honor the most powerful, enlightening, and invigorating stories in television, radio, and ...

in 2010 and a BAFTA in 2011 for her documentary ''Zimbabwe's Forgotten Children''.

Early life

Xoliswa Sithole was born in South Africa and raised in Zimbabwe after 1970. Her mother died from complications related to

HIV/AIDS Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual ...

in 1995. Her stepfather's cousin,

Ndabaningi Sithole Ndabaningi Sithole (21 July 1920 – 12 December 2000) founded the Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU), a militant organisation that opposed the government of Rhodesia, in July 1963.Veenhoven, Willem Adriaan, Ewing, and Winifred Crum. ''Cas ...

, was a founder of the

Zimbabwe African National Union The Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU) was a militant organisation that fought against white minority rule in Rhodesia, formed as a split from the Zimbabwe African People's Union (ZAPU). ZANU split in 1975 into wings loyal to Robert Muga ...

(ZANU), and assassinated lawyer and politician Edison Sithole (1935–1975) was her cousin. She earned a degree in English from the

University of Zimbabwe The University of Zimbabwe (UZ) is a public university in Harare, Zimbabwe. It opened in 1952 as the University College of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, and was initially affiliated with the University of London. It was later renamed the University o ...

in 1987.

Career

As a documentary filmmaker, Xoliswa Sithole created and starred in ''Shouting Silent'' (2002, 2011), a film about her own family's experience with HIV/AIDS, and directed ''Zimbabwe's Forgotten Children'' (2010). ''Zimbabwe's Forgotten Children'' won a Peabody Award in 2010. She was associate producer on ''

The Orphans of Nkandla ''The Orphans of Nkandla'' is a 2004 documentary film about AIDS orphans An AIDS orphan is a child who became an orphan because one or both parents died from AIDS. In statistics from the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), th ...

'' (2004), making Sithole the first South African woman to win a BAFTA award. Her films have regularly appeared on the programs at the African Film Festival New York, and other international film festivals. In 1999 she was South Africa's ambassador at the

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films o ...

. Sithole produced ''South Africa from Triumph to Transition'' and ''Mandela'' for CNN Prime Time, and the series ''Real Lives'' for South African television. Other film and television projects by Sithole include ''Child of the Revolution'' (2005–2015), ''The First South African'', ''Return to Zimbabwe'', ''Martine and Thandeka'' (2009), ''South Africa's Lost Girls'', and ''The Fall'' (2016). "I have only one desire in life," she told interviewer Audrey McCluskey, "Only one – to create images that change the world."Audrey T. McCluskey
''The Devil You Dance With: Film Culture in the New South Africa''
(University of Illinois Press, 2010): 213. Acting appearances by Sithole include roles in the films ''

Cry Freedom ''Cry Freedom'' is a 1987 epic apartheid drama film directed and produced by Richard Attenborough, set in late-1970s apartheid-era South Africa. The screenplay was written by John Briley based on a pair of books by journalist Donald Woods. The ...

'' (1987), ''

Mandela Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (; ; 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African anti-apartheid activist who served as the first president of South Africa from 1994 to 1999. He was the country's first black head of state and the ...

'' (1987, television), ''Fools'', and ''Chikin Biznis''.

References

External links

* *
Xoliswa Sithole fact sheet
at Nayanaya Pictures website. * Xoliswa Sithole
''There is a God in Everybody''
interview video.
Xoliswa Sithole speaks about how dreaming can set you free
video (August 5, 2014). {{DEFAULTSORT:Sithole, Xoliswa South African film actresses University of Zimbabwe alumni 1967 births Living people South African television actresses 20th-century South African actresses South African women film directors South African documentary film directors Peabody Award winners Women documentary filmmakers