South African documentary film director and producer.

Don EDKINS (South Africa) is a documentary film director and producer. He was born in Cape Town in 1953 and left South Africa in 1976 for political reasons. In 1994 he returned to South Africa to vote in the first democratic elections. With an academic background in development studies and African languages, he has extensive work experience in the field of media and development. In Lesotho he published a national popular educational magazine, and founded a mobile video cinema that distributes and screens films at a community level. He has directed and produced a number of documentary films, most recently the multi-awarded Steps for the Future (2001/4) - a collection of 38 films from southern Africa about life in the time of HIV/AIDS. Steps for the Future was the first project of the Steps group of commissioning editors and producers, broadcast around the world, and screened at 150 film festivals. With 18 different local language versions the series continues to be used as a major outreach programme in the southern African region using documentary film to reduce stigma and discrimination of people living with HIV and AIDS. Currently he is an executive producer for the STEPS global documentary project on democracy.

Don Edkins is a South African documentary filmmaker and producer based in Cape Town. He has produced documentary film projects that have been broadcast around the world, such as "Steps for the Future", "Why Democracy?" and "Why Poverty?" earning multiple international awards, including an Oscar for "Taxi to the Dark Side", and the Special Teddy Award at the 63rd Berlinale for "Steps for the Future". The Peabody awarded "Why Poverty ?" project, with documentary films from 21 countries, was screened globally by 70 broadcasters. He is Executive Producer of AfriDocs, a free-to-view VOD platform and broadcast strand across Africa that screens the best African and international documentary films. He is currently producing a new documentary film project with African filmmakers across the continent,Generation Africa, around the theme of migration. He is a mentor for the Berlinale Talents, Durban FilmMart, and Docs by the Sea in Indonesia, and a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Source:
www.worldcompass.org/producer/don-edkins
www.thelastshelter-film.com/en/team/