By Ogova Ondego
Published August 18, 2013
Residents of Nairobi are set to feast on award-winning films as the Lola Kenya Screen audiovisual media initiative and Mathare-based Slum-TV showcase home-grown talent accompanied by fashion shows, acting, rapping and acrobatics in Mathare Valley (August 20-26, 2013).
Lola Kenya Screen and Slum-TV, that have since 2010 conducted mobile cinema in Mathare Valley, shall this time round present their joint programme that incorporates media and information literacy at Mathare Depot (August 20), Kariobangi (August 21), Kwa Austin (August 22), Mabatini (August 23), Mathare 4A (August 24), Mlango Kubwabe (August 26) between 4.00PM and 9.00PM.
Alongside popular films by local and international creatives, other works on show shall be those made by children through Lola Kenya Screen’s learn-as-you-do training programme and youth from Slum-TV’s training.
Also running at Alliance Francaise in Nairobi CBD shall be the 7th FilmAid Film Festival (August 21-23, 2013). FilmAid says it shall promote the work of filmmakers from its film training programme in the Kakuma and Dadaab Refugee camps.
“This programme provides filmmaking skills to eager youth who learn to write, shoot, direct and edit their own films, allowing them to tell their stories in their own voices, through their own artistic expression,” says Stella Suge, FilmAid Kenya Director. “The festival shall showcase these films alongside award-winning international documentaries and dramas, all of which relate to this year’s festival theme: The Right to Tell Our Stories.”
FilmAid says it is partnering with United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) “to conduct two discussion panels that will allow for the audience to engage and converse with experts on refugee issues, from various fields. We believe this to be a crucial accompaniment to the festival in that the combination allows not only for the public to hear stories directly from refugees themselves, but also to engage in dialogue around the issues. ”
The topics to be discussed shall be ‘Media, Rights & Displaced Persons’ (August 22) and ‘Xenophobia, Racism & Tribalism’ (August 23).
