Meet The Team

rene@sunshinecinema.org

Rene Weston is the programmes director at Sunshine Cinema. She believes in the power of creativity to unite, strengthen and heal. She builds lasting team relationships while trying to balance her super-organised ‘get-things-done-yesterday’ kind of energy with her ‘calm-confident-rock-in-the-stormy-ocean’ dreamer self. Her background is an interesting mix of NGO project management, education management and having the time of her life as Ian Gabriel’s assistant on both the Forgiveness and Four Corners feature films. She is interested in empowering youth to find their voice, training them in skills that will help them confidently unlock powerful and authentic stories.

nonto@sunshinecinema.org

Nontokozo Sibanyoni is an alumna of the Sunshine Cinema Spark Impact Programme and a marketing graduate with a passion for digital marketing and impact communications. She thrives on amplifying change on the ground and through online communications. Nontokozo believes it is crucial for youth to equip themselves with digital marketing skills, as the ever-evolving media landscape offers numerous income opportunities.

thaakirah@sunshinecinema.org 

Thaakirah obtained her BA in film production from the University of Cape Town in 2013. She has worked as a production assistant and as a production coordinator specialising in feature films and still shoots. She has freelanced for numerous local production service companies and has worked on projects for the BBC, Netflix, and 20th Century Fox. In 2021, she completed her Masters degree in Documentary Arts graduating with a distinction. Her short documentary An-Nisaa (Women) won the "Best Emerging South African Filmmaker Award" at the Encounters International South African Documentary festival.

refilwe@sunshinecinema.org

Refilwe is an alumna of the Sunshine Cinema Spark Impact Programme with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science, International Relations, and Sociology and a certification in Data analytics. Through the Sunshine Cinema programme, she gained valuable skills and tools, enabling her to leverage her passion for evidence-based research to impact her community through facilitation. Using research as a tool for advocacy, Refilwe has applied these skills across various industries, including public health as a Community Advisory Board member, and climate justice and UX design industry as a junior researcher.

Hlubi Mboya-Arnold is an award-winning TV and film actor, athlete, social justice activist, philanthropist, social entrepreneur, educator and reading for her MBA at Henley Business School. She currently is an executive director at Future CEOs and non-executive director at the Mandela Education Programme.

Mbali Ntuli is a creative writer, theatre practitioner, researcher and a 2021 Spark Impact alumni at Sunshine Cinema. She studied performing arts and arts administration at Sibikwa Arts Centre and Film and Television production at KZN film commission. She is a social activist and co-founder at Blossom Adventures Arts Creations (BLAAC), based in rural Kwazulu-Natal, which is an NPC that advocates for arts education for young pupils in rural areas.

Faith Pienaar is from Johannesburg and has worked to build a number of youth-led social movements centering the use of creative approaches such as film, photography and illustration for positive social change. She is interested in institutional reform as it relates to governance, and is currently completing a Masters in organisational and institutional studies at Wits with the Public Affairs Research Institute. With over five years of professional and volunteer experience in South Africa, Malaysia and the United States, Faith brings expertise in programme development and implementation, communications, campaign building, research and strategic advisory services. Faith currently works as a researcher and project manager at the Mcebisi Jonas Centre for Change.

Stephanie Bousheri is a San Francisco-based accomplished entrepreneurial leader and UC Davis and UCSF trained clinician scientist with global experience spanning patient care, clinical research, product strategy, commercialisation and business development. Throughout her career she has focused on ways to use technology and the idea of scale to innovate, uplift, educate and help others. From working as a nurse; to taking the first therapeutic HIV vaccine to Africa; to operating as a GM at an ed-tech company. Over the course of her career she has worked with both Fortune 500 companies and start-ups to bring novel solutions to market and drive company growth. In her free time she gives back by serving on several boards and advising early stage companies.

Vincent Manzini, also known as Sir Vincent, is a DJ, producer, social entrepreneur, speaker and a culture activist whose mission has always been to shine a bright light on where he comes from and its people. Vincent founded the first DJ academy in Khayelitsha called Jump Start Music Academy, which sought to open up the music industry to kids who do not have the resources and access. With more than 15 years’ experience in marketing, Vincent is the co-founder and director of Blank Kanvas, which is credited with securing sponsorships for various platforms in the past two years.

Osagyefo Mazwai is an investment strategist at Investec Wealth & Investment International, and is a member of the South Africa asset allocation committee as well as a member of the Investec Investment Management (IIM) Belonging, Inclusivity & Diversity (BID) committee. His role at Investec encompasses broad local and global macroeconomic and financial market research which acts as an input into strategic asset allocation decisions. He is an expert economist covering macroeconomics, fiscal and monetary policy as well as trade dynamics. He occasionally writes for publications such as the Business Day on a myriad of topics focusing on South Africa’s fiscal framework, monetary policy and broader economic environment.