A Film Festival Emerges From the Heart of Africa’s Slums
The fifth annual Slum Film Festival is under way this week in Kenya’s Mathare slum; it's an outdoor spectacle in Nairobi that draws hundreds each year and serves as a platform for aspiring young filmmakers from the urban slums of Africa and beyond.
The idea, according to festival organizers, is to smash stereotypes about these communities, give exposure to talented artists from slums, and draw attention to the plight of those who live there.
“They took us on a journey through the slums and in turn allowed us into their somewhat difficult lives,” Jill Samuels, founder of Films Without Borders—a nonprofit providing educational filmmaking workshops for underserved youths—told ScreenDaily.
FWB helped young people from the Nairobi slums of Kibera and Mathare to create short films and documentaries for inclusion in the festival. “Each and every one of our participants brought something different to the table,” Samuels said. “It is clear they cannot change what has happened in the past, but with their strength and resilience and determination and positive outlook, they may well be the generation who can create change for the future.”
(Photo: Courtesy The Mwelu Foundation)
Slums such as Kibera, Kenya’s largest, have existed for more than 100 years; most are a densely packed collection of villages on more than 600 acres, typically made up of mud huts and tin shacks with no running water or sewage infrastructure. Population figures, which are difficult to track and confirm, range from 180,000 to 800,000. Only recently has the government attempted to improve life in the slums by creating work programs, building houses with proper sanitation, paving roads, opening health clinics and police stations, installing streetlights, and even providing free Wi-Fi.
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Despite challenging living conditions, the Slum Film Festival proves there is a vibrant and creative culture in the slum community.
“There is the ugly side [of the slums], but there is also so much talent in these slums that needs to be exposed,” festival director Solomon Mwendwa told Reuters.
(Photo: Courtesy The Mwelu Foundation)
Indeed, one of the more popular films at the festival explores a subject many of us are familiar with: the depression that comes with spending too much time on social media. Silent Depression, by Ugandan filmmaker George Nsamba, who grew up in the slums of Naguru, highlights the growing use of mobile phones in the developing world and the corresponding increase in depression among young Ugandans. The short film series Tales From the Slums, another contribution from Films Without Borders, provides a glimpse into daily life, including the unlikely success story of Octopizzo, a rapper from Kibera.
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Last year’s lineup was equally impressive in range. One film employed a black-and-white silent-film style to document the plight of two children kicked out of their home by their stepmother. Another film cleverly told the story of the African boy that Jack Nicholson’s character sponsors in the film About Schmidt as he tries to find a village woman to marry him.
Around 30 films will be shown at this year’s festival; about a third were made by those who grew up in Kenyan slums, with others by filmmakers from all around the world, including Argentina, Malaysia, Nigeria, and the United States.
“The main message that we try to bring home is the fact that you have been born in a slum does not necessarily mean that is your end story,” said Mwendwa. “You can change your story.”