Ryan Swano
Angelo C Louw is an Author, Filmmaker, Photographer, Academic, Environmental & Climate Activist, and we are proud that he is also a long-time Bruinou.com Content Contributor.
His work as a Content Editor for Greenpeace international, where Angelo has developed several ground-breaking multimedia campaigns and interventions, has garnered him many local, continental and global accolades.
Angelo C Louw’s latest achievement is that he has been shortiisted as finalist for the 2025 Forty Under 40 South Africa Awards, and there are a few ways in which we want you to show him your support.
Presenting South Africa Through an Intersectional Lens
Much of what Angelo writes and creates on different platforms and in different media formats, and particularly what he contributes on Bruinou.com centres around how Environmental & Climate Issues, as well as the Socio-Economic Realities thereof, impact South Africa’s Black & Coloured Communites. Some of his work also focuses on the Coloured community’s complex, yet mostly beautiful relationship with queerness.
Angelo C Louw’s debut book “The Problem with Black People” is a selection of writings spanning his ten-year career as a columnist. This anthology by the award-winning film-maker and social justice activist unpacks the intricacies of race and race relations in contemporary South Africa through an intersectional lens, focussing on the mainstreaming voices from the margins of society. Angelo uses his debut book to redress misconceptions about race and inequality through fact, and not popular opinion.
The Forty Under 40 Finalist’s writing skills also extends to fictional writing and his short story “Above and Beyond the Water’s Edge” was recently published in the POWER: Short Stories anthology, which features stories of the power dynamics in South Africa society. It weaves together our experience with climate change as a community – past, present and future.
For Angelo, the recognition as a finalist in the Forty Under 40 Awards is more than just a personal milestone. It affirms the years he has invested in ensuring that marginalised voices are not drowned out in the global climate conversation. “It’s a huge honour to be a finalist in Forty Under 40 South Africa,” he says. “When I joined the climate movement, my main ambition was to make sure that in these important conversations about our collective future that our issues were not overlooked. So to be recognised in the Environmental category, where we are a minority, is quite significant.”
On the 18th of October the 2025 Forty Under 40 culminates in the Under Forty Champion Summit and on that evening, the Awards Night at Marriott Hotel, Melrose Arch, Gauteng.
Committed to Centering His Community
That same commitment to centering his community is visible in both his fictional and documentary work. Angelo explains that “our community is at the centre of my storytelling because there is such an underrepresentation of us across media.” His short story, Above and Beyond the Water’s Edge, was not only an exploration of the impacts of climate change but also a reimagining of survival.
“I especially wanted to imagine what a future would look like WHEN we survive the climate crisis – because history has proven our resilience with extreme weather before,” he notes. He is also conscious of shifting the tone of his work. “With the short story and the documentary we’re currently producing, I wanted to have a more optimistic framing of our community, especially in relation to our hardship… I want to strike the balance between hope and despair.”
READ: Above and Beyond the Water’s Edge – POWER: Short Stories Book Excerpt
If you would like to read the rest of this story, Above and Beyond the Water’s Edge by Angelo C Louw, and 21 other amazing stories by local authors, POWER: Short Stories is available at Exclusive Books and online from Lovebooks.
View this post on Instagram
This balance Angelo wants to strike also informs his new project: a documentary on the life of Joseph Louw, (not related), the South African photographer who captured the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. “It’s sad how someone who contributed so profoundly to the global fight against racism is practically unknown,” Angelo says. “Malcolm (Rainers) and I won’t compromise on making sure that his story is told, and told well.”
Anyone who would like to contribute to the documentary, financially or otherwise can email me at angeloclouw@gmail.com
ALSO READ: Filmmaking Duo Wins Silicon Valley African Film Festival Award
Alongside these creative pursuits, Angelo is extending his impact through academia. “I’m currently enrolled in a Master’s programme at the Wits Centre for Critical Diversity,” he explains. His research centres on the groundbreaking show Beaulah: Queens van die Kaap, which he believes offers profound insights. “I think it is such a beautiful representation of our community’s relationship with queerness that the academic space can learn a lot from.”
For well over a decade, since the previous iteration of this site, Angelo has brought us stories of great importance, and he continues to frame our Coloured Communities from angles that are not normally covered by mainstream media.
As it is with this article, at times, Angelo has also been the subject of articles on our website.
The award-winning environmental & climate activist, documentarian, author, photographer, filmmaker and storyteller known for his intersectional activism, Angelo C Louw, is someone who we not only value as a Bruinou.com content contributor, but also for his contribution to the painting of a more holistic picture of how marginalisation affects our communities, minus any political rhetoric.
Here is where you can find out how you can support Angelo C Louw
