Santilla Chingaipe is a Zambian-born Australian award-winning journalist, author and filmmaker. Her documentaries include Third Culture Kids and Our African Roots, among others. She has been a guest on Tomorrow Tonight and Q&A.
Background Chingaipe is an African Australian who migrated to Australia at the age of 10. She currently lives in the Victorian city of Melbourne. Her film-making efforts include the documentary Our African Roots.The Age, September 24, 2021 - Australia’s first bushranger - he may not be who you think By Carolyn Webb The documentary, which she produced with director Tony Jackson was an MIPCOM Diversify TV Award winner in 2022.
In addition to being a film maker and author, she has been a full-time journalist for SBS Television. She spent ten years with SBS. During that time she reported from various locations in the African continent where she interviewed some the most prominent African leaders.State Library Victoria - Previous Creative Fellows > 2018 > Santilla ChingaipeAIDC, 2023 - SANTILLA CHINGAIPE (AUSTRALIA) JOURNALIST & FILMMAKER INDEPENDENT She eventually left her job with SBS to concentrate full time on film making.
In addition to English, she speaks Bemba, Nyanja and Namwanga, which are all Zambian languages. She can also speak some Swahili.ABC, June 4, 2020 - Why I'm returning to cultural practices during the coronavirus crisis ABC Everyday / By Santilla Chingaipe
She has had recognition at the Victorian African Community Awards and the Celebration of African Australians Awards. She is also a four-time finalist for the United Nations Association of Australia Media Peace Awards.200 Women - Santilla Chingaipe
She has written for The Saturday Paper. Her articles include "The rise of far-right Hindu nationalism in Australia" (August 20, 2022), "Farm activists face tougher laws" (July 27, 2019), "Black Rhinos teams lift a community" (February 18, 2023).The Saturday Paper - Santilla Chingaipe is a journalist and documentary filmmaker
She founded the annual program, Behind the Screens. Supported by VicScreen this program operates with a view to increasing the representation of those people who haven't been included in the Australian film industry in the past.AIDC, 2023 - SANTILLA CHINGAIPE (AUSTRALIA) JOURNALIST & FILMMAKER INDEPENDENT
Film career Chingaipe wrote and directed the 2017 documentary short Black as Me.Screen Australia - BLACK AS ME 2017 CAST & CREW & PRODUCTION DETAILS
She directed Third Culture Kids, an Arenamedia production. It is a documentary about six Australian artists from different backgrounds. It was produced by Kate Laurie and Chloe Brugale with Robert Connolly as the executive producer. It looks at things from their perspective such as what it means to belong, representation, racism and identity.ABC - Third Culture Kids
During the pandemic, she made The Dancer, a short documentary that featured performance artist Zelia Rose.ABC, Wed 7 Oct 2020 - Making short films during the pandemicThe Sydney Morning Herald, OCTOBER 2, 2020 - 'Beautiful things in the darkness': Voxdocs, the five-minute films about artists in COVID-19 - Garry Maddox
Chingaipe's film Our African Roots premiered on SBS television in October 2021. The film looks at a forgotten and neglected part of Australian history. There were 10 convicts of African heritage among the 1788 arrivals. Among the names of the forgotten and overlooked were John Randall, Billy Blue, John Martin, Fanny Finch, and John Joseph. In her investigations, Chingaipe talks with descendants of Fanny Finch in Castlemaine. What comes to light is the involvement of Fanny in the history of Victoria's gold rush era and her role in the right for women to vote.SBS, 20 OCT 2021 - ‘Our African Roots’ tells of a forgotten part of Australia’s history by Kate Myers
Written work Books Her non-fiction book Black Convicts was published by Scribner Australia in 2024. According to the Simon & Schuster website, quoting Scribner Australia's publisher Ben Ball: "Santilla peels off another layer of the whitewashing of our history." In 2025 it was shortlisted for the Stella Prize and for the University of Queensland Nonfiction Book Award at the Queensland Literary Awards.
Appearances Tomorrow Tonight, Episode 5 "The App", aired 28 November 2018.TheTVDB - Tomorrow Tonight / Aired Order / Season 1 / Episode 5 , The App Q&A, Episode: The Ethics of Accountability, broadcast Thu 8 July 2021.ABC - The Ethics of Accountability, Panelists Q&A, Episode: "Power, Politics, and the Spectre of War", broadcast Thu 17 November 2022."Power, Politics, and the Spectre of War, Panelists", ABC, 17 November 2022.
Further reading Santilla Chingaipe, "We must be aware of who is excluded from Australia's recorded history – and who excluded them", The Guardian, 4 October 2024.
References
External links IMDb: Santilla Chingaipe Instagram: Santilla Chingaipe (santigrams)