Today we’d like to introduce you to Kemiyondo Coutinho.
Kemiyondo, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
At my core, I am a storyteller. I am a Ugandan by birth, but my footprint left imprints in Swaziland where I spent my childhood and adolescence. I have always been a storyteller. From as early as I can remember, I have always loved acting out stories for others. I was always watching and then retelling the stories that I saw around me. In high school, I poured all my time and interest into the theater. Obsessed with the art of storytelling, I was determined to act out a familiar story, but as a Ugandan living in Swaziland, I found stories about African women from any country hard to come by. At 16, I decided that to act in a one-woman show that tells a story about my culture; I’d have to write it myself.
Writing was a new experience for me, so I interviewed Swazi women to find my story, which resulted in Jabulile! A play which opened up discussions about the gender inequality women face on a daily basis, particularly in Swaziland. The play went on to tour internationally and lead to the birth of another successful one-woman show, Kawuna…you’re it!, which made me realize that I was now as much a writer as I was an actor. Once I embraced this, I quickly realized that being a writer came with a higher responsibility: a call to keep writing for the voices I never heard or saw in the theater. Since then, the thread that continuously runs through all my work is that of constantly striving to give voice to the unheard.
I knew I needed to hone my craft as an actor, so I decided to pursue an MFA in acting from The American Conservatory Theater. My love of writing followed me to my graduate studies, constantly informing my acting and vice versa. Whilst the majority of the training and my focus was on theater, I could not ignore the transformation television was making before our eyes. The stories and who was telling those stories took on new shapes and new colors and new narratives. I found myself in front of my television, flipping through shows, like the 16-year-old flipping through plays, searching for myself. Searching for people like me. Searching for my people and their stories. Ten years later, I found myself in front of my television, flipping through shows, like the 16-year-old flipping through plays, searching for myself. Ten years later and I was once again unsuccessful. Yes, it was more inclusive, but I still never saw or heard my story in my favorite shows. Like with everything else, I let this absence fuel a desire – to write for the screen. I wrote (& directed) a short film that garnered awards and attention and landed me in my first writer’s room. Currently, I am the Co-EP of season 3 of P-Valley and worked on Season 2 Pvalley as well as other shows for Starz & Netflix.
All the projects I have taken on are motivated by the missing narrative. The silenced narrative. The narrative we choose to ignore. This is what has guided me from actor to writer and now director. Art, in all its diverse forms of expression, has the ability to fundamentally inspire and influence people. People possess the individual and collective power to change the world. There are countless stories to be shared, and my unusual cultural background gives me unique access to fresh and different stories. I seek to tell those stories effectively and contribute to expanding this field.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
My name Kemiyondo is given to a girl child whose umbilical cord is wrapped around them at birth. I often joke (with very serious undertones) that my birth story reflects my relationship to my art. How can the thing that was responsible for keeping me alive turn around and cut off my oxygen? My relentless desire for storytelling has often given me breath and then in the next instant taken it away. As a Black African Woman who tells stories that center Black African Women, I am never at a loss for inspiration but often at a loss for support.
It’s hard to want to tell stories that challenge the powers that because guess who controls the money? The powers that be. That said, I have been so fortunate to have amazing leaders in this industry pave a path for me and believe in me and I do not take that for granted. I have learnt to put my focus on where I am appreciated and it has served me well.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I consider myself to be a Cognitive Disruptor. One who is invested in cognitively disrupting harmful narratives that physically and emotionally hurt “the other.” I admit I completely made that up that term because I had to put two big-sounding words to make it seem like I have a real job, lol.
I have often shared that I never intend to tell audiences what to think but rather to reflect society back at them. If they like what they see then very well but if they don’t. If the images and stories that I present do not sit well with them, then they must find their solutions in their respective worlds to change that. Little did I know that simply reflecting the world back to itself from the eyes of a Black African Woman is inherently political. It is inherently disruptive.
Telling stories as an African Woman disrupts the status quo. Because I am at the bottom of the social hierarchy as a woman. As a black woman. As a black African woman. Taking the mic and telling my story disrupts the norm. If we look at the social hierarchy and put white men at the top and black women at the bottom. And everyone else somewhere in that ladder. We start to see the pattern that the higher you are the more leverage you have to the metaphoric mic. The lower you are, the more you are expected to be in the audience.
Now it’s one thing to be an audience and learn about other cultures. But learning about your own culture, about your own self, about your own embodiment through another’s eyes is harmful. This is where the stereotype is born. This is where the other is formed and everything I do is to disrupt this.
I do this through:
TV Writing (Co-Ep Pvalley alongside my own shows I am in development for)
Founding A Ka Dope (A music platform in Uganda that shines a light on upcoming musicians)
Founding Kemistry Klass.
Forbes Africa 30 under 30 recipient Kemiyondo Coutinho is a multi-hyphenate writer, actor, and director who writes for the fish out of the water. Whilst her storytelling double-dutches between hard-hitting themes and sharp-biting comedic commentary, the throughline in all her work remains making people feel seen. A self-proclaimed African nomad, Kemiyondo credits attending boarding school at UWC High School, which was home to students from nearly 60 nationalities at any given time, with providing the foundation for how she views the world.
Garnering multiple international awards, including NBC Universal’s Harness Social Impact Award, her short film KYVENU made a loud directorial debut. Kemiyondo is also the inaugural recipient of John Singleton’s Filmmaker’s Fellowship, Kevin Hart’s Laugh Out Loud Filmmaking Fellowship, Shadow & Act’s Rising Star Award and has been named one of OKAYAfrica’s 100 Women of Africa To Watch.
She is the founder of Kemistry Klass, a Ugandan production house that aims to tell stories from the African perspective. Through her production house and in the spirit of promoting Ugandan Female Filmmakers, she founded the #fivefor5 initiative, which grants five Ugandan female filmmakers the opportunity to produce a short film of their own.
Currently, Kemiyondo serves as a writer and Co-executive producer on Season 3 of Starz’s smash hit, P-VALLEY. Her previous credits include EMPIRE OF MALI (Netflix/Lionsgate), STEP UP (Starz/Lionsgate), and P-VALLEY Season 2.
Kemiyondo prides herself on being kind and efficient.
Who else deserves credit in your story?
BLACK WOMEN have molded this career of mine! Some special highlights:
Katori Hall- She is everything! She believes in me so much and I refuse to embarrass her faith in me so I work even harder. She has changed the trajectory of my writing forever.
Tamara Gregory – She saw my short film back in 2018 and has always spoken life into me. She doesn’t know this but when I was driving for Lyft and she would meet up with me to talk about a script of mine, it always made me feel like I must be on the right path.
Tanya Barfield – Showrunner turned friend and supporter. We are kindred spirits and she is always one call away for all advice needed. Her writing also influenced my writing which is a special kind of relationship.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @kemi_yondo
- Twitter: @kemi_yondo
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@HowRedIsRed
Image Credits
Marie Nguyen
