Our Programmers

Our Programmers have a love for cinema and champion the hard and arduous work of filmmaking.

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Andrew Kendall

Andrew Kendall is a critic, academic, writer, and communication consultant. He holds a Master of Arts Degree in Film and Literature from the University of York and was the Head of Department of Language and Cultural Studies at the University of Guyana from 2021 to 2023. He has also taught at the National School of Theatre Arts and Drama and served as an advisor for the BIPOC Critics Lab. He has presented at conferences at several institutions and has published his own research on literature and film in academic journals, as well as in Stabroek News as their weekly film critic (2017-2026). He has contributed further writing and criticism to Stage Buddy, Token Theatre Critics and The Film Experience.
He has programmed film series and events for institutions including the University of Guyana, the U.S. Embassy in Georgetown, and the Society Against Sexual Orientation Discrimination (SASOD). Andrew is a member of the Guyana Press Association (GPA), the International Federation of Film Critics (FIPRESCI), the Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics (GALECA) and the African-American Film Critics Association (AAFCA). He has been a member of the jury for the FIPRESCI Prize at the Toronto International Film Festival (2022), Guadalajara International Film Festival (2023), Palm Springs International Film Festival (2023), and the Julien Dubuque International Film Festival (2026).
Academic and Critic
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Kevin Garbaran

Kevin Garbaran is a Guyanese writer, filmmaker, and festival programmer whose work spans literature and cinema. At just 24 years old, he was shortlisted for the Commonwealth Short Story Prize in 2019, with his fiction also earning subsequent longlist recognition. In 2020, he served as writer-in-residence at the University of the West Indies, St. Augustine. As a filmmaker, Kevin wrote and co-directed his debut short film "Old Toy Train" in 2024 alongside Rae Wiltshire. The film made its international premiere at the International South Asian Film Festival Canada (ISAFF) in 2024 and has since screened at several regional and international festivals, including GATFFEST (Jamaica, 2025), the Caribbean Film Festival (Trinidad, 2025), CARIFESTA XV (Barbados, 2025), the Suriname Short FilmFest (Suriname, 2025), and the CaribbeanTales International Film Festival (Canada, 2025).
His involvement in the regional film community extends beyond directing; in 2026, he served on the selection jury for GATFFEST in Jamaica. Since 2024, Kevin has been a festival programmer for the Georgetown Film Festival, where he curates screenings and collaborates with regional and international partners. He is also an active mentor, regularly facilitating scriptwriting workshops as part of the festival’s development initiatives.

Writer and Director
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Ayanna Waddell is a stage manager, director, actress, and playwright. She is a Communications graduate of the University of Guyana, the vice president of the National Drama Company and a tutor at National School of Theatre Arts and Drama, where she teaches Stage, Properties, Front of House Management and Acting. She began her theatre life in 2008 after participating in an acting workshop pre-Carifesta X and has since gained extensive experience both on stage and in film. She has won several awards for her work as a director and is an accomplished stage manager with the National Drama Company. Ayanna currently works at the Guyana's Ministry of Education’s National Centre for Education Resource Development, within the Distance Education and Information Unit as the Station Manager for the Radio Station EdYou FM.
Director, Playwright, Stage Manager, and Actress

Ayanna Waddell

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Nicholas Peters is a writer and human rights professional who has experience in the media, communications and development fields, with a special interest in marginalised peoples and decolonisation. He is a proud graduate of the University of Guyana with a Bachelor of Arts in English - Literature and Linguistics and was a journalist at Kaieteur News. His subsequent experience in civil society with youth, Indigenous peoples and LGBTQI+ persons led him to pursue his postgraduate studies in human rights. In 2018, he was awarded the Chevening Scholarship to read for his Master of Arts in Human Rights at the University of Sussex. Upon his return to Guyana, Mr. Peters worked with the International Organisation for Migration. He is currently Policy and Advocacy Coordinator at the Amerindian Peoples Association. As a writer, his fiction and non-fiction work has been recognised by the University of Guyana and the United Nations. He has also contributed poems to the Manoa Journal of the University of Hawai’i and the anthology I Will Not Go: Translations, Transformations, and Chutney Fractals. Mr. Peters has always enjoyed watching, following and discussing movies with his peers. In his spare time, he supports local film productions through the Georgetown Film Festival.
Writer and Human Rights Professional

Nicholas Peters

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