Makgano Mamabolo is a renowned South African filmmaker and actress who has effortlessly transitioned from being in front of the camera to behind the scenes as a show runner, producer, scriptwriter, and director. Based between Johannesburg and Copenhagen, she has spent the past 22 years working on a diverse range of genres, including film, TV drama, sitcom, presenting, commercials, soap opera, telenovela, and theatre.
With a Bachelor of Performing Arts, Mamabolo has had a successful career, starring in productions such as Miss Kwa Kwa, a one-woman stage production that ran for four years and was later adapted into two novels. She has also worked on critically acclaimed productions as a company MD for Puo Pha Productions and as a freelancer, producing the international multiple award-winning documentary Skulls of My People for Al Jazeera and serving as the Associate Producer on the award-winning film While You Weren't Looking.
Mamabolo is a dedicated volunteer with IRANTI, a queer NGO, where she directed a short documentary, I Rise. She has also completed 150 episodes of the long-running drama series Lithapo as the Creative Producer. Her cinematic comedy performance in the film Zulu Wedding on Amazon and Diamond City on Netflix was met with great success.
Mamabolo has had the honor of being a 2021 FESPACO film festival Grand Jury member on behalf of the African Union and has sat on the SAFTA - Golden Horn Awards Judging panel in 2008 and 2009. She is a published poet, a voice-over artist, and a Master of Ceremonies who regularly participates in panel discussions on the South African Film and Television industry as a queer black female filmmaker and showrunner.
Mamabolo has recently wrapped up the development of MTV Shuga - Down South 3 as the Head Writer for Paramount and has contributed to the VIACOM: Beyond the Binary writer's room. She is currently securing financing for her debut feature film Fluid under her own company, Prism Productions.
