The Hollywood African Cinema Connection (HACC) 2026 film festival will gather a jury with extensive experience in filmmaking, post-production, screenwriting, criticism, law, and immersive media.
This year's lineup includes specialists such as Luisa Vanjiku, a cinematographer from Kenya; Jerry Chiemeke, a writer and lawyer born in Nigeria; and Evette Vargas, a writer, director, and producer from the USA.
Luisa Vanjiku
Vanjiku is a film and post-production specialist with over fifteen years of experience working on feature films, television projects, documentaries, and commercials. She worked on the editing of 'Kati Kati,' which represented Kenya at the Academy Awards for Best International Feature Film. This film won the FIPRESCI prize in the Discovery section at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2016.
Her other work as an editor includes 'Country Queen,' shot for Netflix and ARTE, as well as 'Sketchy Africans' and 'Bufis,' which was screened at the Warsaw International Film Festival. Vanjiku graduated from the directing class of the African Creative TV Fellowship program. Additionally, she is a partner and Director of Technical Affairs and Partnerships at the NBO Film Festival, and is a member of the editorial board of the Kenya Film Editors Association.
Jerry Chiemeke
Chiemeke is a writer, journalist, film critic, lawyer, and marketing communications specialist, born in Nigeria and residing in the UK. His works have been published in publications such as Die Welt, The i Paper, The British Blacklist, The Africa Report, Afrocritik, The Johannesburg Review of Books, Olongo Africa, The Lagos Review, and Culture Custodian.
His literary works have been nominated for various awards, including the Pushcart Prize, Ken Saro-Wiwa Prize, Diana Woods Memorial Award for Creative Nonfiction, Best Small Fictions, and Quramo Writers Prize. He is the author of the short story collection 'Dreaming of Ways to Understand You' (2020) and the poetry collection 'Notes for Nnedimma' (2019).
Evette Vargas
Vargas works as a writer, director, producer, and entrepreneur, covering the fields of cinema, television, and immersive media. She co-founded the production company Indigo Reign Films, which produces films, series, and podcasts. She has been recognized as an artist to watch by The New York Times, and her work has been featured in Forbes.
Vargas wrote, directed, and produced the short film 'Confessions,' which won the audience award at the Cannes Film Festival. She sold her drama series 'Muses' to TNT and developed projects for MGM, eOne, and Shout!. She also served as executive producer, screenwriter, and director of the digital series 'Dark Prophet' starring Henry Rollins.
Vargas holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Film and Television from Tisch School of the Arts at New York University, and a Master of Fine Arts in Screenwriting from UCLA. The festival will present ten selected feature films, four of which were directed by women. Information about the festival is available on the HACC website, and screenings will take place in the Robben Island Museum Amphitheater.