Category Archives: Afrika Eye

Profile of the Week | Mũchiri Njenga

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Mũchiri Njenga

This week, my feature profile is Mũchiri Njenga. He is the founder of Nairobi-based boutique creative studio Studio Ang which has become a haven for independent artists that enjoy working on unique and visually innovative projects. Njenga is a self-taught transmedia artist and filmmaker whose background spans the fields of animation, motion design, music and film. Kichwateli and My World is Round are two short films by Njenga that screened at the Afrika Eye Film Festival at The Watershed in Bristol, UK last year.

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Kichwateli

Kichwateli is a short poetic film set in a post-apocalyptic African slum and city. The film takes the viewer on a spiritual and metaphorical voyage through a young boy’s dream, mixing imagery of the boy wandering inquisitively with a live TV as his head to show the effects of media on a young generation.

The short film features music by Just A Band, Modeselektor ( a breakbeat duo from Berlin) and Maasai Mbili (Nairobi-based Art group). The music is a metaphor for the way we are now all plugged into the same images of global anxiety while at the same time we ourselves, are subjects of scrutiny by the all-seeing ubiquitous cameras. The director of Goethe-Institut Nairobi Johannes Hossfeld said this of the project,

Muchiri made one of the best music videos I have ever seen in my life.

Kichwateli was Studio Ang’s contribution to the BLNRB project, a cooperation between Kenyan and German musicians initiated by Goethe-Institut Nairobi and Gebrüder Teichmann. Learn more about the filmmaking process for Kichwateli and the inspirations that led to it’s production by clicking here.

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Portrait by Allan Gichigi

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Our World Is Round

Our World Is Round  is a short film that celebrates the life-time achievement of veteran Kenyan cyclist David Kinjah and his award winning team Safari Simbaz. The film details how Kinjah discovered cycling and what brings him joy in this activity. Having raced and won medals in prestigious races around the world, Kinjah also mentored Tour De France 2013 winner Chris Froome.

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Kinjah, the first black African rider to sign for a European cycling team, trained Froome as a cyclist when he was a boy while his family was living in Kenya. The film also delineates Kinjah’s strong desire to transform the lives of the people in his village through his passion and the power of cycling. This is an initiative which has taken form in the Safari Simbaz Trust,

Most of these young boys are school dropouts who would have ended up being gangsters. But through Safari Simbaz, they’ve learned a lot about life, gone back to school and most of them [now] have a career in pro-cycling, representing Kenya in international races globally.

In this film, the advantages that new technology has provided are also brought to the fore. When Kinjah first started cycling professionally, he mainly relied on magazines and newspapers. Now, with the help of web developer Fady Rostom, Kinjah and his team have an online presence that can be reached globally. Read more about the film and view more photos at a previous feature I wrote here.

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Afrika Eye Film Festival Nov 8 – 10 2013

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The Afrika Eye Film Festival makes a welcome return for its 9th year and will take place at the prestigious Watershed cinema in Bristol, UK.  This year’s theme is ‘Kenya at 50’ in recognition of Kenya’s 50 years of independence. Kenyan films and film-makers are being given centre stage. This includes launching the festival with the first regional screening of David ‘Tosh’ Gitonga’s highly-praised Nairobi Half-Life and the regional premiere of Something Necessary followed by a Q&A session with its up-and-coming director Judy Kibinge (founder of DocuBox).

Tickets for the festival are now available. The festival programme is also available here. Make sure you follow Afrika Eye’s facebook page and twitter for regular updates and fringe events. View Afrika Eye’s fun and beautiful short promo here:

Another festival guest will be director Alain Gomis (Senegal/France), introducing, and later discussing, his internationally-applauded feature, TEY (Aujourd’hui/Today), which stars the actor, musician, poet and hip hop artist Saul Williams (previously seen in the big hit, SLAM).

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Other African-themed attractions include music, food, fashion, debates, director Q&A sessions, new shorts, a photo exhibitions and workshops for young people, led by singer Mim Suleiman of Zanzibar (who features on the soundtrack of Grand Theft Auto V). There is also a short film programme titled EYEFULL which is a 90 minute programme of short films told from an African or Diaspora perspective that will be running alongside the main festival.

at Jahazi Festival 2011 (photo: Peter Bennett)
In addition, there will be an exhibition of Kanga – the highly colourful and boldly designed cloth wraps worn by men and women in east Africa – an African themed menu and a round table debate about media education and the potential for film club exchanges by Bristol/Nairobi schools.
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Pitching Workshop | Afrika Eye

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The Afrika Eye Festival in Bristol, UK will return for its 8th consecutive year from 8th – 10th November 2013. This year’s theme is Kenya in celebration of 50 years of independence.

Prior to the launch of the festival, Afrika Eye have organised a pitching workshop. Read the brief below:

Pitching, or presenting your film idea, to professionals is a vital skill in getting your film made. So this year, Afrika Eye decided to hold some mentored sessions where a selected group of film makers (or would-be film makers) get 4 minutes to pitch their idea to film professionals in front of an audience.

The pitch with the most votes from the film professionals will win a small cash prize towards making the film happen. You’re eligible if:

  • You live in or near Bristol
  • Your idea is for a 5 – 10 minute film
  • You are African, African Heritage or your idea is connected to Africa

There are 2 sessions.

The first will be a mentoring workshop on October 24 , 9.30-1pm at Watershed arts centre for 20-30 people, split into into groups of 10.

You’ll learn how to write, time and present your pitch.

From each group, the 2 pitches judged to have the most potential to be made into films will be selected to pitch in the second session. At the second session, the selected pitches will be presented to a team of film professionals plus an audience of the other workshop participants and interested public.

The professional team will award a small cash prize to the most outstanding pitch. More importantly, all participants will have the chance to learn from the professionals and turn their ideas into saleable pitches.

E-mail your film pitch idea to us at afrikaeye@gmail.com by 15th October.

1 page only, with:

  • your name, age and address
  • a tag line for your film if you have one
  • the story, the character(s)
  • how you are going to tell the story
  • if you have stills or a trailer or any samples, you can attach them – they may be useful as part of your pitch.

Good Luck!

 

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Kenya theme for Afrika Eye 2013

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Celebrating 50 years of independence, Afrika Eye’s country focus this year will be Kenya. As a warm up and to build new audiences they have linked up with George Salt, founder of the Film Club Network (FCN). Film Club is an education charity that helps schools set up clubs which provide young people with the chance to watch, discuss and review a diverse range of films – feeding their imagination and nurturing their social and intellectual development.

The Film Club Network is bringing school children in Kenya and Bristol together, allowing them to virtually exchange films through their new cinema clubs.

As volunteer coordinator, I am excited to be exploring how Afrika Eye can grow and become more integrated with the Bristol community through the commitment of its volunteers. We are setting up a series of pre-festival pop up screenings across Bristol unifying communities through cinema. Volunteers are driving these developments. The future looks very bright indeed!  George Salt

The Film Club Network is inspiring young people in Kenya and Bristol to become active global citizens through the magic of film. FCN is excited to be working with Afrika Eye this year, providing a short filmmaking workshop for young people in Bristol, with a simultaneous workshop being held in Nairobi.

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A Film Club Network session in Nairobi. Photos from George Salt.