Nadifa Mohamed won the Best Presenter (Factual) award for her historical documentary Britain’s Human Zoos at this year’s Edinburg TV Festival.

The Edinburg TV Festival celebrates talent within the television industry annually.  The festival was held on August 22nd this year at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre in Edinburgh, Scotland.

The Edinburg TV Festival has been “nurturing talent for more than three decades.” See their mission statement below:

The Festival has grown to become a charitable organisation with a mission to identify and nurture the next generation of talent, whatever their background. Over the last 30 years we’ve supported more than 4,000 people to start or develop a career in TV.

Nadifa Mohamed was nominated earlier this year and then was chosen by the festival’s Jury President. The Jury President was British rapper and television presenter Big Zuu this year.

Britain’s Human Zoos is a documentary about the history of Britain’s longstanding fascination with “human zoos.” These “human zoos” objectified Black and Brown people for the entertainment of British audiences. The people that were in these zoos were transported from their homelands and used as a form of entertainment.

The stories of these zoos are largely unknown to people today. In this documentary, Nadifa works to restore humanity to the people subjected to this injustice and bring awareness to what actually happened in these zoos.

In a news release on Channel 4, Nadifa Mohamed talks about why she decided to be a part in making this documentary:

I’ve wanted to know more about the history of Human Zoos for a long time, but I wasn’t sure I’d ever get the opportunity to go beyond the surface of what was already known. Going on this journey has afforded me the chance to shed some of the secrecy and find stories that were touching and upsetting, but that also went against my own preconceptions. To give light, agency and dignity to members of these Human Zoos who came here in a vastly different time is a real privilege.

Nadifa Mohamed is a Somali-British novelist who was shortlisted for the 2021 Booker Prize for her novel, The Fortune Men. Although she is known for being a novelist, she is now being recognized for her research and storytelling that she brought to Britain’s Human Zoos.

Congratulations to Nadifa for winning Best Presenter (Factual) at this year’s Edinburgh TV Festival!