BBC on SLUM-TV Screeing for peace
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Slum TV’s ‘Screening for Peace’ was Friday 25th April at 7pm at the Kwa Austin open space, Juja Road, Mathare.
For SLUM-TV: Esther Wangiru Waweru and Emily Hughes.
Mtaa Film Festival
Wednesday, April 23, 200824 young filmmakers, from 4 different organizations working together for the first time to create 3 short films in 48 hours, the Mtaa Film Festival promised to be an exciting event…and it certainly was.
We all met at the Slum TV offices on Saturday morning, fairly close to the scheduled 9 am kick off. Biki Kangawana, a Kenyan film producer, introduced the idea, and stressed that the key to success when working with such tight deadlines is simple ideas and sticking to the script. As he said, the allotted time of 4 minutes is about how long it takes him to smoke just one cigarette!
The young filmmakers from the 4 separate organizations were mixed up and divided into 3 groups before we assigned them the theme; ‘The Hustle’. Then they were given two hours to develop the idea, and come up with a script and storyboard. I wandered around the groups and listened to what was going on.
What really made an impression on me was the extent to which all these young people, most of whom had not met one another before, instantly got down to work in a highly cooperative fashion. I was expecting things to get off to a slow start and maybe see some shyness or hesitation but this was not the case at all and the three groups buzzed with debate and discussion for the rest of the morning.
Just before lunch the ideas were presented. Two of the groups had chosen to make drama’s about how hustling is part of daily life, but how people use the fruits of their hustle’s differently. The third group opted for a documentary about real life hustlers in the slum. Then, lunch eaten, the groups went off into Mathare to begin filming. A couple of hours later they were back and, apart from a few technical problems, most of the footage was then logged onto the computer to be ready for editing the following day.
Whereas the mood on Saturday morning had been vibrant and exciting, Sunday had a decidedly more industrious feel to it. Most groups started editing pretty much dead on 9 and worked with serious focus until they were done. Unfortunately one group had to re-shoot their footage as they had problems with the camera, but that did not stop them from very nearly completing a film in less than half a day!
By about 5 we were ready for the final screening and everyone crowded into the office to watch the final films that we projected onto a wall. We had selected four judges: Sammy Gitau, a local Mathare hero who recently graduated from Manchester University having applied from a prospectus he found in the ditch in Nairobi, Ravi, a local script writer working with Ghetto Film Club, Nathan Collet, director of Kibera Kid and initiator of Hot Sun Films, and Mark Hopkins, an independent documentary film director based in New York.
The standard of the films was fantastic. First we had ‘Game On’, about a hustler who got his comeuppance, then ‘Dear Mama’ about an IDP who has to hustle to get food for her baby, and finally ‘Changaa’, a documentary about the illicit brew. This last film was unfinished so the group did a live voiceover, which was really brilliant.
The judges then left to make their decision and, after some deliberation announced ‘Dear Mama’ the winner, followed by the Changaa documentary in second place and ‘Game On’ in third place. Nevertheless, although the films were ranked the judges assured us that, in actual fact, they were all winners and it was thanks to everyone’s contribution that the weekend was such a success.
We ended the proceedings with a feast of beef stew, spinach and maize meal accompanied by some choice Kenyan tunes courtesy of DJ Benson. Hopefully the next one will be in a couple of months. Keeping you posted.
INTER-SLUM 48-HOUR FILM COMPETITION
Friday, April 18, 2008‘MTAA FILM FEST’, hosted by Slum TV, Mathare, Nairobi
19th-20th April 2008
Young people from Nairobi’s largest slums; Kibera, Korogocho and Mathare, meet this weekend for an intense two days of filmmaking.
Teams made up of members from Slum TV, Ghetto Film Club, Voiceless Children and Hot Sun Foundation will meet head to head in the film challenge.
Peter Johnson, co-ordinator of Hot Sun Foundation: ‘It will offer the youth an opportunity to put their ideas into film. It will boost their self esteem and help them discover their creativity.’
Kenyan television producer Biki Kangwana will reveal the theme for films at 9am on Saturday morning – giving each team 48 hours to shoot and edit a prize winning film.
Films will be screened and judged at 4pm on Sunday at the Slum TV office in Eastleigh, judges include UK filmmaker Camilla Turner. The weekend will close with a prize giving and wrap party for all participants. The winning film will be screened as part of the Slum TV newsreel for peace in Mathare on Friday 25th April.
Felix Masi from Voiceless Children: ‘Witnessing challenges and suffering in my country reminds me to take the camera to the communities and share with others their resilience. Telling an African story in my way, in my words, makes me proud of who I am.’
For further information contact Emily Hughes, Slum TV +254 711256177
Introducing Peter Ndolo
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
My name is Peter Ndolo. I am 21 years old, fashionable and creative. I am the seventh born in a family of ten that is father, mother and eight children. I was raised and born in the Mathare slums, in the Eastlands of Nairobi, which is refered as the home of crimes, where the worse happens daily, every hour with robbery, prostitution, rapes, murders, violence etc. With more than 700,000 inhabitats there is bad infastructure, no roads, worse environment and and people experience difficulties to fulfill their basic needs.
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introducing David Mbuthia
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
My name is David Mbuthia and my nickname is Identitie, I am 24 years old, born on the 4th of may 1983 from a family of seven. We are three boys and four girls (our first born passed away).
We lost our mother after a long illness. She fought her battle, she came, she saw and she conquered. She is my role model; whenever I was down she could lift me up. I want to follow in her footsteps. My father is jobless as well as my younger brother. The other brother works in a ‘jua kali’ garage. (Jua kali garage mean it is a temporary situation alongside the road and small in size using manual tools).
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