Dara Kell

Biography

Dara Kell is a South African filmmaker and writer based in New York. She is working with Doc Society to produce a podcast about women at the forefront of climate justice around the world, hosted by Mary Robinson, the former President of Ireland. She was recently supervising editor and writer on the XQ Institute’s documentaries about rethinking high school education, broadcast on NBC, ABC, CBS and Fox and featuring Viola Davis and Tom Hanks. The show had 26 million viewers. She was a creative producer and director for the Ford Foundation’s “#InequalityIs” video campaign, featuring a wide array of voices—including Elton John, Gloria Steinem and Richard Branson—who share their perspectives on the subject of inequality. Her editing work was featured in the Albert Maysles film “Iris.”

Dara is currently making a documentary about Reverend William Barber, who is leading a nonviolent campaign of civil disobedience to address poverty in America. Her previous documentary as a director was “Dear Mandela,” a film about three courageous young South African slum dwellers who lead a social movement to stop mass evictions. The film was the centerpiece of a global community engagement project to inspire young people in slums to become leaders and is part of the curriculum in many law schools around the world. Dara nurtures longstanding relationships with non-profits and social entrepreneurs to tell stories that elevate their impact; collaborations have included the Socio-Economic Rights Institute of South Africa, PEN America and the Kairos Center for Religions, Rights and Social Justice. Dara is also an award-winning fiction writer and recipient of the 2015 Zoetrope Fiction Award. She is currently at work on her first short story collection about contemporary South Africa, and she serves on the Advisory Committee of the Science & Technology Train, bringing cutting edge STEM education to rural youth in South Africa.