ABOUT US
Jali Collective is a grassroots collective based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Our purpose is to widen access to African cinema and to celebrate and elevate Black, African, and diaspora stories through film and culture.
We curate film screenings, festivals, workshops and related events that bring Black, African and diaspora cinema to audiences.
Core Members
Jali Collective was founded in 2025 by three core members – Tomiwa Folorunso, Isabel Moura Mendes and Carmen Thompson. Each are long-standing producers, programmers and cultural organisers with deep roots in the film, festival and arts sectors in Edinburgh, Scotland and beyond.
Tomiwa Folorunso
Tomiwa is a creative producer, programmer and project manager whose work spans festivals, arts organisations and community spaces. She focuses on diasporic storytelling in film and literature, making connections and creating meaningful partnerships with audiences. Currently she is Project Manager & Partnerships Coordinator at T A P E Collective. Previously she has worked with International Film Festival Rotterdam, Glasgow International Festival of Visual Art, and Edinburgh International Film Festival and Open City Documentary Festival. Tomiwa was a Programmer with Glasgow Film Festival (2020 - 2024) and Co-Director of Fringe of Colour Films (2023). She is co-chair of Take One Action and a BAFTA Scotland member.
Isabel Moura Mendes
Isabel is a creative and cultural manager with specialism across performing arts and film. Her practice has been centred around international cultural relations and the promotion of artistic exchange as well as film curation, with a focus on African cinema and documentary. She is on the board of Take Me Somewhere Festival, and programmed Africa in Motion Film Festival (2011-2012) and Film Africa (2013 - 2019). She co-founded IberoDocs, alongside Mar Felices and Ramon Rivas, in 2014. She is currently Senior Relationship Manager, Theatre & Dance, at British Council.
Carmen Thompson
Carmen is a film programmer and cultural producer. For over ten years, she has worked across audiences, festivals, funding and distribution - both in the UK and internationally - with a focus on cinema from the African continent and the diaspora. She is currently Head Distribution & Special Projects for multi-award-winning We Are Parable. She’s a Programme Consultant for Sheffield DocFest and for four years was Programmer of Sub-Saharan African film at Red Sea Film Festival. She was previously a producer at distributor Aya Films, and across her career has worked on UK-wide releases of titles such as Banel & Adama, The Gravedigger’s Wife, Rafiki and Sprinter. She is deputy chair of the British Independent Film Awards (BIFA), and is a BAFTA and EFA voter.