African storytellers shine at first National Geographic Explorers Festival

South African film-maker and National Geographic Explorer Noel Kok, co-founder of the Nature, Environment and Wildlife Filmmakers (NEWF) network, hosted the first-ever National Geographic International Explorers Festival held on African soil.

The festival was held last week at The Galleria in Sandton, Johannesburg and brought together scientists, film-makers, conservationists and storytellers from across the continent and beyond.

Kok hosted the event’s headline session, An Evening of Exploration, which celebrated the achievements of National Geographic’s Explorer community in Africa. The programme opened with a video from Africa Refocused, a collaboration between NEWF and the National Geographic Society aimed at empowering African storytellers to tell their own conservation stories.

Several NEWF Fellows from across Africa, including speakers from Kenya, Mozambique, Tunisia and Uganda, also took the stage in the Explorer Spotlight session, alongside South African explorer Ntokozo Mbuli.

Kok said: “We are facilitating and supporting a new generation of African conservation storytellers, some are starting out, others mid-career and even leaders in their field and in doing so, we're playing our part in shifting who tells the story of nature and conservation on this continent.”