Australian Queen of Afghan Soaps

Available for over a year

Trudi Ann Tierney gave up her lucrative career in Australian TV to produce soaps operas in Afghanistan. She became head of drama at Afghanistan's largest media company and today runs a production company making dramas with her business partner. Journalist Fadel Barro is one of the founders of Senegalese collective Y'en a Marre. The grassroots movement engages young people in politics and last year released an educational hip hop song that helped towards containing the spread of ebola in the West African country. Tsuki Ayano is re-populating her remote village in Japan with human-sized dolls. The dolls now outnumber the human population and help to attract visitors to the area. (Photo: Trudi Ann Tierney)