Taharuki

Kenya and the US have teamed up to produce a fascinating short film named Taharuki aka Suspense. Taharuki is a 12 minute Kiswahili film set in the post-election violence of Kenya 2008. It is a fictional account of a man and a woman from different tribes working for an underground movement seeking to expose a child trafficking cartel.

The interesting thing about this film is that though set in Kenya it was entirely shot in Brooklyn, New York. Due to the very tight budget everyone volunteered their labour free of

charge. The location,a nursery, was donated for 24 hours.

The movie was written, directed and produced by Musangi-Omari and Co-produced Kia Barbee. The three roles in the movie are played by US-based Kenyan actors.

Durban International Film Festival

The Durban International Film festival is on the horizon and I very excited about it. DIFF is South Africa’s longest-running film festival, the Durban International Film Festival runs across 12 days at the end of July, presenting over 250 screenings of current films from around the world, with strong focus on South African and African cinema. Screenings take place throughout Durban including township areas where cinemas are non-existent. The festival also runs extensive seminar and workshop programmes to stimulate industry capacity. This Includes the participation of 40 filmmakers from Africa in Talent Campus Durban, a cooperation with the Berlin Film Festival, and the Durban FilmMart, a film financing initiative in partnership with Durban Film Office. DIFF is organised by the Centre for Creative Arts (UKZN).

The Democratic Republic of the Congo often referred to as DR Congo, DROC, DRC, or RDC (from its French abbreviation), or Congo-Kinshasa after the capital of Kinshasa (in contrast to Congo-Brazzaville for its neighbour) conjures up many images some beautiful but while others are eerie. Think the beautiful Congo River System, diamonds and many other natural resources. On the flipside think the horrible civil war and poverty.

In terms of cinematic productions, however, Congo is breaking ground. Viva Riva, a new film coming out of this part of our continent is an excellent example of this. The film is the FIRST feature film brain child of documentary Filmmaker Djo Tunda. It is also the FIRST contemporary drama to be made by a Congolese director.Viva Riva! won the inaugural prize for Best African Movie at MTV’s 2011 Movie Awards presented at the Gibson Amphitheatre in California on 5 June.

The story revolves around Riva, a thief after the heart of a gangster’s lover (this should be interesting). Throw in some bad choices, an Angolan gangster, precious oils, violence, sex and some social commentary and what we have is a riveting crime tale. The film is set in the beautiful Kinshasa and has the makings of where African Cinema should be going.

Choice - New Zim Movie

I have not yet had the pleasure to scribble something about, Zimbabwe's film industry. The reason I must confess was because of ignorance. A lot has been happening in Zollywood which is my country’s equivalent to Nollywood which is Nigeria’s answer to Bollywood who adopted that name from Hollywood. Zollywood or whoever came up with that title get a 1 out of 10 for their creative effort. ZOLLYWOOD! C'mon. It’s so uncreative that if I type Zollywood or Nollywood my computer automatically corrects it to Hollywood or Bollywood.

Now that is out of the way I will get back to talking about cinema.

According to entertainment journos The Zimbabwean movie industry is reported to be booming. The country has seen a number of motion pictures released in the past year. The much talked about ‘Lobola’ and the recently released ‘Choice’ instantly come to mind. But having watched neither film I am in no position to critic them. As soon as I buy copies at a corner in Marabastaad I will post something immediately... just kidding. Piracy is ILLEGAL!

I must say though, Choice seems to be a step in the right direction for Zimbabwean movie making. The film is about a young married woman, Choice Tembo, played by Rudo Chigogo, who is caught between two lovers. She loves her husband Morrison Tembo (Sylvester Hwema) but he is not meeting her conjugal rights satisfactorily. As a result, she finds a sensual touch from a young, handsome man, James Tigere, played by Tinashe Maisva. She then carefully juggles the two relationships but Morrison later discovers the game. I like the premise it departs from those sombre story lines associated with Zim movies.

deadline for entries

Submission of entries for the 2011 Africa International Film Festival (AFRIFF) will close on July 30. A statement from Chioma Ude, the chief executive officer of AFRIFF, highlighted guidelines for filmmakers wishing to enter works for the festival. She disclosed that categories available include feature, documentary, animation and short film and that each entry must be accompanied by a completed form.

Sisters in Africa are doing Big Things in Cinema

I have recently found a very interesting and well put together blog. This interesting weblog is birthed by WFOZ aka Women Filmmakers of Zimbabwe. These filmmakers mean business and are abreast on all developments in the realm of cinema.

According to these mothers, sisters and daughters of cinema "The purpose of the African Women in Cinema Blog is to provide a space to discuss diverse topics relating to African women in cinema--filmmakers, actors, producers, and all film professionals. The blog is a public forum of the Center for the Study and Research of African Women in Cinema."

NOLLYWOOD IN KENYA

Is it me or is Kenya making some serious inroads in the film industry. Frst it was Kenya's French connection at this year's Cannes (pronounced 'CAN'. As some pedantic people are at pains to mention every time I pronounce it 'Cainnes')and now Kenya is involved in a deal with Nollywood. these are exciting times for my brothers and sisters up north.

Kenyan press has stated that The Nigeria Export Promotion Council (NEPC) in partnership with Nollywood and the Nigeria High Commission in Kenya, has embarked on a road show to promote the Nigeria Movies Industry in the East African country.

The road show featured participants from Kenya Film Commission, Censorship Board, Actors Guild of Kenya, Media, scholars, workshop at US International University which has about 100 Nigerian students.