Lydia Matata is a Kenyan filmmaker currently based in the UK. She makes films about the people, experiences and issues that move her.
Her films include Kenyan on Mars, a short documentary currently screening on Al Jazeera’s Africa Direct Platform.
In addition, Lydia is also one of the writers of Country Queen, Kenya’s first dr... Read More

Lydia Matata is a Kenyan filmmaker currently based in the UK. She makes films about the people, experiences and issues that move her.
Her films include Kenyan on Mars, a short documentary currently screening on Al Jazeera’s Africa Direct Platform.
In addition, Lydia is also one of the writers of Country Queen, Kenya’s first drama series streaming on Netflix and Arte.
She is the writer and director of the short film Sungura. The film has screened at various notable festivals including the Interfilm International Film Festival in Berlin and the Pan African Film Festival at Cannes.
She is currently developing a new documentary project, Chovu. The film was selected to participate in the American Film Showcase Documentary Residency held at the University of Southern California in 2024.
Her other documentary, Utapata Mwingine, received the Best Emerging Filmmaker Award at the UN Women’s Global Voices Film Festival in 2021.
She recently completed a short film, Pepo Kali. The film premiered at the 31st edition of the New York African Film Festival.
Lydia is currently developing her first feature film project, based on the short film Pepo Kali. The project recently won a production prize at the Red Sea Film Festival’s Souk Market.
She is a laureate of the UNESCO and Nara International Film Festival Residency in Japan for African women in film. She completed the short documentary A Conversation Between Two Artists as part of the programme. Read Less