Fatima has been selected to join the organisation via the 2025-2026 Future Talent Programme.
Here is her introduction:
“My name is Fatima Eribo Bokesa, and I am a Media and Communications with Mandarin student at De Montfort University. My academic and writing experience focus on how culture, emotion, and media intersect. I am currently working as an editor for Private Waves, an emerging film-review platform that began during the 78th Cannes Film Festival. My proposed project for the Future Talent Programme is to expand this project into a space that connects
global perspectives on film through accessible, inclusive criticism.
Private Waves, founded by Dr. Hiu Man Chan, publishes reflective, research-driven writing that still feels approachable to general audiences. As a trainnee editor, my role is to develop my sensitivity for under explored topics, to help refine structure, keep the publications visually and stylistically coherent and promote the new magazine.
I am drawn to editing because of its balance between creativity and precision, each article feels like arranging a shared space where every element must fit with care and intention.
Within the framework of NGO UK-China Film Collab, I hope to contribute to developing Private Waves into a small-scale cross-cultural journal that highlights emerging filmmakers and film students from both regions. Having studied abroad in Hong Kong, I have witnessed how film becomes a conversation about identity, belonging and modernity. I would like to extend that conversation through collaborative work. This project aligns closely with the mission of the
Future Talent Programme to test ideas in “grass-root film diplomacy.”
Private Waves stands for accessibility in film culture. You don’t need to be an expert or study media to write with us, but to care deeply about cinema and the way it connects people. I believe that kind of openness is what the next generation of cross-cultural collaboration should look like.
Film becomes a bridge when people from different backgrounds can express what they see and feel and be taken seriously for it. Beyond its written work, we also plan to grow its presence on Substack and social media to make these cross-cultural exchanges visible and engaging for younger audiences.”
