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Bio<\/h3>\n
Mmakgosi Anita Tau is a writer and award-winning filmmaker from Botswana based in the
\nUSA. Tau was born in Botswana in 1989 and holds a Master of Fine Arts in Film from Syracuse
\nUniversity. She completed her undergraduate studies in motion picture medium at AFDA
\nBotswana and also studied journalism, international relations, and criminology at the University
\nof Monash South Africa. Tau founded Mmakgosi Live, a project she undertook in Botswana,
\nGhana, and later the US, that uses poetry, art, film, dance, and theater to de-stigmatize mental
\nillness and inspire artists to connect. She is a recipient of the British Council\/Prince Claus
\nMobility Fund and was selected by the United States Department of State for the University of
\nIowa International Writing Program, Women\u2019s Creative Mentorship Program. Tau is a Headlands
\nCenter for the Arts Artist in Residence 2023 as well as a recipient of The Donald and Genie Rice
\nResidency – Yaddo Artist in Residence. She is also a recipient of two Creative Opportunity
\nGrants and the Bryan Buckley Award for her short films. Tau was selected by the United States
\nDepartment of State for the Mandela Washington Fellowship, a flagship program of the Young
\nAfrican Leaders Initiative, Drexel University, USA.<\/p>\n
Tau works in both fiction film and documentary and has made films in Botswana, Ethiopia, the
\nUS, and Zambia. She uses cinema to make films that uncover the Motswana woman in
\nmainstream media and protest human rights violations and societal injustices. Her short film
\ncredits include Red, Pink and Black (2023), For Them That Prey (2023), Beneath These Walls
\n(2022), Section 82 (2019), The Secret (2020), Moribo (2018), Amme Re Tla Lala Re Nyalane Ka
\nNako (2017), and Aphala (2017). Her television series credits for script writing include Bokgoba
\nBa Golegilwe (2018), Botshelo Jo (2021), and Colours (2017). She produced, shot, and directed
\nSojourner (2023), a meditative experimental piece. She is currently writing her memoir, doing
\nresearch for her first feature length project and completing post-production on a short film titled
\nRed, Pink, and Black (2023). Her films have screened in Botswana, Zambia, Ghana, Zimbabwe,
\nTurkey, Canada, Cameroon, and the United States. She is also a published poet, has conducted
\ncommunity workshops on poetry and mental health, and as part of her MFA program taught<\/p>\n
introductory filmmaking and scriptwriting. Her poetry, essays and flash fiction have been
\npublished in the University of Iowa\u2019s Women\u2019s Creative Mentorship Project Anthology, Brittle
\nPaper, Water Stone Review, Kalahari Review, Drum Magazine and others. Tau is currently
\nteaching Screenwriting, Filmmaking Concepts, and Multimedia Storytelling in Digital Platforms
\nat The College of Visual and Performing Arts as well as S.I Newhouse School of
\nCommunications.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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Film publicity stills<\/h3>\n\n\t\t
![\"CFAF](\"https:\/\/www.africanfilmfestival.org\/dev\/files\/2024\/01\/cfaf-2024-poster-500x667.jpg\")
<\/a>![\"Mmakgosi](\"https:\/\/www.africanfilmfestival.org\/dev\/files\/2024\/01\/mmakgosi-anita-tau-250x250.jpg\")
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