By Ogova Ondego
Published February 16, 2014
A film in which a teenage girl seeks her fortunes in an East African city after dropping out of school due to lack of fees but instead finds herself shipped 14,000 kilometres away to South East Asia by sex traffickers, returns to National Theatre in Kampala, February 22-23, 2014 at 3.00pm and 7.00pm. It was last screened there in July 2013.
The film, THE ROUTE, is directed by Jayant Maru who describes himself as “a second generation Indian born in Kenya but living in Uganda.”
Apart from being screened at the USA Embassy in Uganda, Maru says, THE ROUTE has also been shown by the International Organization for Migration “in efforts to raise awareness against Trafficking In Persons in Uganda and had screened the film in Jinja and Mbale towns to a large number of youth and held workshops on awareness about Human Trafficking.”
Jayant Maru, who says he is studying Sociology with Law at University Of London International Programme, explains that his film career started when he attended Tongues On Fire Film Festival in London and was inspired by the filmmaking industry because “throughout my youth, I had aspired to be an actor, writer and filmmaker.”
Upon returning to Uganda in 2011, Maru says he worked as a production manager on a film called EVERYDAY PEOPLE from which he gained lots of experience and insight in filmmaking.
Come 2012, Jayant Maru debuted as Lead Actor in a film titled HANG OUT. He was subsequently nominated for Best Lead Actor at the Pearl International Film Festival in Uganda.
“Having had some filmmaking experience and attending various workshops, I ventured in filmmaking as a Director in 2013,” Maru says.
The film he directed, THE ROUTE, was released in July 2013 and has gone on to win the Best Feature Film award at Nile Diaspora International Film Festival in Uganda besides being nominated for Best Feature Film by Uganda Film Festival, Silicon Valley African Film Festival and Manya Human Rights Film Festival.
He says he is currently working on a short film called WATCH OVER ME and on a full length fictional film titled KENT & KATE.
