in conversation with NOMAWONGA KHUMALO & SIYABONGA MKHOLO on [FOR THE CULTURE]

Nomawonga Khumalo is an award-winning South African writer, director and producer whose work explores identity, heritage and memory across contemporary and historical African contexts. As Co-Founder and CEO of Grapefruit Gardens, she is focused on creating opportunities for African storytellers to move beyond simply creating content and towards building sustainable careers around their work. Her credits span Netflix, Amazon Prime and Paramount+, while her short film Five Tiger was selected for the Sundance Film Festival. She also directed Isilulu, a feature documentary created for the Yale University Art Gallery’s Nguni: Migrant Nations of Southeast Africa exhibition, and her work on MTV Shuga Down South earned a SAFTA for Best Youth Programme.

Siyabonga Mkholo is a filmmaker, editor and operational strategist with more than a decade of experience across documentaries, digital campaigns and cinematic storytelling. As Co-Founder and COO of Grapefruit Gardens, he works at the intersection of creativity, operations and industry development, helping transform ambitious ideas into structured productions. His debut short film Muse was nominated for Best Short Film at the 2018 RapidLion International Film Festival, while his post-production and editing credits include Sundance-selected Five Tiger and SAFTA-winning Mi Kasi Su Kasi. He was also invited alongside Nomawonga Khumalo as a Hayden Visiting Artist at the Yale University Art Gallery for their work on Isilulu.