Désirée Kahikopo – Meiffret, the successful Namibian director

Désirée Kahikopo Meiffret is a Namibian director best known for her 2019 film “The White Line,” which tells the story of an interracial love affair during apartheid. She is one of the few women in her country who has been able to direct a film.

Désirée Kahikopo- Meiffret made her name in the film industry in Namibia and abroad with the film “The While Line”. Passionate about cinema since childhood, for several years, she played a series of acting roles, mainly as an extra in NGO films… In 2016, she had the opportunity to work as line producer on the film “Fish out of water” by Namibian director Vickson Hangula. It was an opportunity that exposed her to the world of filmmaking.

When she came up with the idea for her film « The White Line », she opted to direct it herself despite having no experience directing and never attending film school. In 2019, she released her first film, a love story between an African maid and a European policeman in the 1960s, during the apartheid era in South Africa. A period when this was outlawed.

The highly acclaimed film has won several awards in Namibia and around the world. It premiered at the 2019 Durban International Film Festival in South Africa. It won the Best Cinematographer and Best Feature Film awards at the 7th African emerging filmmakers in Durban. It also won an award at the Namibian Film and Theatre Awards. It was nominated for five African Movie Academy Awards in 2020, including Best Actress in a Leading Role, Best Debut Director, Best Costume Design, Best Screenplay and Best African Language Film. The same year, it also won the Kilimanjaro Prize for Best Film at the Africlap festival.

Thanks to this success, Désirée Kahikopo Meiffret was brought into the limelight. The Namibian has made other movies, including “A whisper in the wind”, “The warrior princess: Isa” and “Omapando”. She is particularly interested in stories about Africa, its people and its way of life. In her films, she often gives the lead role to women, in order to depict different facets of Namibian women on screen.