A KBC TV Producer, Benard Timbe, who directed and produced the documentary, ‘Against the Waves: Commemorating the 2004 Tsunami and Building Resilience in Disaster Risk Reduction’, has won an award at the 2026 African Union of Broadcasting Media Awards(AUB) under the Migrations category in Gambia.
The documentary, produced in conjunction with the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction, highlights the work of the National Disaster Management Unit as they participate in disaster simulations called Mass Casualty Drills, aimed at better preparing for national disasters.
Shot entirely in the coastal region, the film follows Christopher Odinga, a 46-year-old sand sculptor living with a disability whose livelihood depends entirely on the ocean. Still haunted by the trauma of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, Odinga’s experience exposes the harsh realities that persons with disabilities face during emergencies, from limited mobility to exclusion in preparedness planning.
Speaking to KBC Digital, the director and producer of ‘Against the Wave,’ Benard Timbe said he and the team were “overwhelmed with joy” the first time they got the call.
Before winning the AUB Media Award, the documentary had already been shortlisted among the top three films in the African Way of Life category at the Africa Media Awards held in Ethiopia in 2025.
Speaking about the call from Ethiopia, he said: “I was super excited, overwhelmed with joy, and could barely keep calm at work that afternoon after receiving the news. To imagine that my story had made it to the top three shortlist among nearly 1,000 entries, earning recognition as one of the best documentaries nominated for a continental award, gave me immense gratification.”
Answering the question about his response to this 2026 win, Timbe said he had received the news with more grace and with a vision for the future.
“Surprisingly, I wasn’t excited that much because I sort of expected the news, given the story had already made it to a continental stage (African Media Awards) and I was almost 100% sure it was just a matter of time before my story could be the ultimate winner of a continental or global award. If anything, my focus now is to go global. I think winning an accolade of that calibre will excite me more.”
Beyond creating an award-winning story, Benard wanted to tell a “human” story that covered the environmental changes caused by climate change.
“Doing human interest stories that focus on climate change and environmental issues affecting people’s livelihoods gives me great satisfaction,” he said. “I tend to focus more on solution-based journalism rather than reactive reporting, which often overlooks the fundamental principles of creating awareness, promoting mitigation measures, and addressing the root causes of disasters.”
The documentary, which features interviews with the Director of National Disaster Unit, Dr Onyango Ochieng, Director of Meteorological Services, Dr David Gikungu and residents of the coastal region, captures how important it is for the safety of the people living in the coastal region to have a rescue team that is well-equipped and trained to deal with disasters.
It is this rich narrative thread that Timbe believes makes for a great story.
“A narrative without perspective is just noise with better lighting,” he said. “Therefore, as an individual, I intentionally strive to remain authentic, objective, and thoughtful in perspective while crafting a story, because the angle you take is what makes a story distinct and sets it apart from the rest.”
The documentary is available to watch on KBC’s YouTube channel.
