A Journey to Remember
It was on a Sunday morning, the 11 of August 2008 when we departed the Harare International Airport in Zimbabwe. At first I was shocked at the thought that it was really me who was going to Kenya for the Lola Kenya Screen Festival, but as they say, a journey of a thousand miles starts with a step forward. We flew with Kenya Airways.
We arrived in Kenya at around 7:10pm. Though it was quite late and I was really tired I was still very eager to do some sightseeing around the town and to get some feeling of what to expect the next morning. We were escorted to our hotel, which was situated in Nairobi’s city centre. The hotel was nice and comfortable. After some time I was then introduced to my new friends from Zanzibar and Uganda: Tristan and Bakare. I then fell into a deep sleep when I was shown my room, though I was really nervous because I really did not know exactly what to expect the next morning, as it was my first time in Kenya.
The next morning I was nervous again because I really did not know what to expect from the people and the workshop. Funny enough, we were the only Southern African country present and I was so proud and excited by that. When we arrived at the National Theatre, the venue, the sight was so welcoming. I hope my colleagues also felt the same. We were then shown where to go and sign up. I then decided to do the Journalism workshop because there were other workshops like animation, production, documentary filmmaking and press (journalism).
We were eight in my group and we were only two boys and the rest were girls. We had two tutors: Ken Onowe, a journalist and a student at a university. We also had Mr Ogova Ondego (the Festival Director) himself teaching us. A well respected man in Kenya, who is really dedicated in his work and is influencing the upbringing of young filmmakers and artists.
We were taught that journalism is not all about glamour, trendy clothes and flashy cars – all that comes after so much hard work and meeting your deadlines. For you to be a good journalist you have to understand certain things like:
Culture, History, Art, Creativity and Literature
You must also understand the artistic and the way in which the elements contribute to the goals of the content. In journalism we also have to use some formulas like:
G – Goals
O – Obstacles
A – Answers
T – Time
All in all for you to be a journalist you have to know the 5 W’s and 1 H, namely Who, What, Where, When, Why and How.
We were also watching some films and that is when I really realised that as children we have the potential and the talent to change the world and lives through film.
The film that I really enjoyed was “All Girls Together”. This is a story about marital infidelity. When two best friends meet for a birthday party, it turns out to be a confession of a man called Bruce who was dating both of them. When they found out, they stripped him off to nothing and resolved to sue him for using a fake identity. Well I think this was a lesson to all the “players”.
The workshop days really cruised by and unfortunately we had to wrap up and leave. It was really a helpful week and I promise to implement all the useful things I learnt and to teach what I learnt. This is definitely a step forward towards my journalism career. It was really a special moment and an honour to represent Mai Jai Films, ZIFF and Zimbabwe at such a high level. I hope this is not my last time doing so. I want to thank Mai Jai Films, Art Moves Africa and Auntie Rumbi for they made it possible for us to go to Lola Kenya Screen.
Lastly but not least, my sincere gratitude goes to Auntie Isabel, Auntie Rumbi (again); Bree and Sharon thank you very much for making this workshop enjoyable.
Année : 2008
Profile :
Sexe :
Projet:
Participation in Lola Screen Festival.
Session
Type de projet
Départ: Harare, Zimbabwe (Southern Africa)
Destination : Nairobi, Kenya (Est AFrica)