We speak with the Creative Team behind Oya Media Group about their new documentary “Bam Bam A Sister Nancy Story” and how their Caribbean and African upbringing influences their company, the
Oya Emerging Filmmakers Program and advice for young black female creatives.
About Oya Media Group
A powerful African goddess and the namesake of a woman-led, award-winning production company based in Toronto. In 2018, celebrated veteran filmmakers Alison Duke of Goldelox Productions and Ngardy Conteh George of Mattru Media joined forces to create OYA Media Group. OYA brings an authentic perspective to media platforms, from film and TV to virtual reality through socially relevant, life-changing stories that amplify Black experiences.
About Alison Duke
An award-winning writer, producer, and director, Alison is committed to telling stories of resistance and change. She co-wrote and co-produced the documentary Mr. Jane and Finch (2019), which won two 2020 Canadian Screen Awards: Best Social/Political Documentary and Best Writing for a Documentary. During the same period, she directed Cool Black North (2019), a two-hour documentary for CityTV/Rogers that highlighted the Canadian Black community through the experiences of 15 Harry Jerome Award winners. The film became one of Roger’s top 10 streamed shows in February 2019.
Inspired by movements like #MeToo and Ava DuVernay, Alison hired five Black female directors for the Akua Benjamin Legacy Project (2016), celebrating the legacies of Canadian Black activists such as Dudley Laws and Charles Roach.
Alison began her career with the hip-hop documentary Raisin’ Kane: A Rapumentary (2000), and later worked on social issue documentaries like A Deathly Silence (2003) and Garbage: The Revolution Stars at Home (2007). Recently, she has shifted her focus to fiction, with her short film Promise Me (2020) winning Best Canadian Short at the AfroPrairie Film Festival.
About Ngady Conteh-Smith
Ngardy Conteh George, hailing from Sierra Leone, is a two-time Canadian Screen Award-winning filmmaker, Sundance Institute Documentary Film Program Fellow, and grant recipient from Toronto and Ontario Art Councils, as well as the Canada Council for the Arts. She focuses on amplifying voices from systemically excluded communities, particularly within the African Diaspora.
She directed, co-wrote, and co-produced Mr. Jane and Finch for CBC Docs POV, which earned two 2020 Canadian Screen Awards and a Golden Sheaf Award nomination. Earlier, through her production company Mattru Media, Ngardy produced The Rhyming Chef Barbuda, a cooking show blending hip-hop and culinary arts, along with two seasons of Cypher for AUX TV. She also worked as a video editor on Arts & Minds (Bravo!) and The Marilyn Denis Show (CTV).
Ngardy’s films include Soldiers for the Streets (2004) and Dudley Speaks for Me (2016), which won Best Canadian Presentation at the Caribbean Tales International Film Festival. Her feature documentary, The Flying Stars, explores amputee athletes in Sierra Leone and premiered at RIDM (2014), winning Best Documentary at the BronzeLens Film Festival. The film was broadcast globally, including on NHK, DR, and Al Jazeera.
Season 21
