My mom always said I need to
work twice as hard as the men.
I need to be twice as fast and
twice as smart.KEITUMETSI QHALI,
29, SOUTH AFRICA
DIRECTOR, WRITER AND PRODUCER
INDUSTRY: ENTERTAINMENT
When Keitumetsi Qhali walks
into the studio for the FORBES
AFRICA 30 Under 30 photoshoot,
her demeanor is that of a hard-
talking businesswoman, but with a
creative twist.
Well, she has to be this way, as
a woman in a predominately white
male-dominated industry with
limited budgets.
Qhali, who hails from the
Eastern Cape region of South
Africa, is a multi-award winning
director.
She works in long and short
form films and videos and to date,
has directed over 29 videos.
Her early work dates back to
2014 when she directed an African
hit music video Rands and Nairas
by Nigerian artist Emmy Gee
featuring AB Crazy & Dj Dimplez.
The music video won the Best
Music Video of the Year award at
the 2014 Nigeria Entertainment
Awards and was nominated for the
Channel O music video award, for
the most gifted music video of the
year and Most Gifted Newcomer.
Qhali bagged all these wins at
the age of 24.
Later, she was signed to the
prestigious Darling Films production
company as their first black female
commercials director.
“It is a big deal to be recognized
in this industry. My mom always said
I need to work twice as hard as the
men. I need to be twice as fast and
twice as smart,” she tells FORBES
AFRICA.
Fast forward to recent years, her
talent continued to stand, on stages
locally and internationally.
In 2018, she directed a short film
titled The Initiate which was bought
by Showmax.
And last year, she was nominated
for a Loerie Award for her fashion
film Winter Blues for the Edgars
winter campaign.
She also won a SAFTA (South
African Film and Television Awards)
for Best Factual Educational
Documentary Programme for her
short film titled KICK IT.
Last year, she was also listed as
one of the Mail & Guardian Young
200.
She is currently doing some work
with Netflix which she says she is not
at liberty to talk about right now.
It’s lights, camera and action
until then.