By FREDDY MACHA
Tanzania and films. Films and Tanzania. It is not what we are famous for. What about Kenya? Uganda? Rwanda? East African film industry is not as well- known as say, our athletics or our tourist haven. So every now and then we hear an actor (or actress) has been awarded some international prize.
We think of Lupita Nyong'o, Daniel Kaluuya or may be Steven Kanumba. Nyong'o is currently the most well- known Kenyan film star outside Africa, followed by Kaluuya- the 2021 Oscar for best supporting actor (playing Black Panther slain leader Fred Hampton). If you Google, Kaluuya , however, he is listed as a British actor. We know his parents were born in Uganda. So...
What about Stephen Kanumba? His 2012 funeral attracted at least 30,000 film fans in Tanzania. He was only 28. And he starred in a few Nollywood (i.e. Nigerian) movies. What does that say about our East African film business? Like the Swahili proverb goes ...Kwenu ni Kwenu Hata Ikiwa Chini ya Mti. (Your home is the best place even if under a tree.)
Home offers the best pie.
In May 1963, more than 30 African leaders met in Addis Ababa and created the Organisation of African Unity (nowadays African Union). Ardent Pan-Africanists – Mwalimu Julius Nyerere and Kwame Nkrumah differed on how the continent should unite. Ghana's Nkrumah wanted an African state while Tanzania's Mwalimu preferred a more inter-regional approach.
And that prevailed and beside things like ECOWAS we had the East African Community. And that is where we are at with films. I gather it is apt for this article to check out individual efforts. In Tanzania we have had the success of Bongo-land one and two (twenty years ago) by Josiah Kibira. Kibira dealt with African migrants t overseas; failing and returning home to face even more challenges and struggles. Prior to that Fimbo ya Mnyonge was the well- known feature film. Funded by the state-run Tanzania Film Company, it was a massive hit in mid 1970s.
Several individual film makers have ejected feature films. None of them made a major international impact. The best thing is they tried though. Out of this straggle and struggle....
Wetengere Kitojo arrived in the UK study film in mid 2000s and by 2010 he was shooting short films. It is always said start small. And that is Nyerere (as opposed to Nkrumah's) vision. Manageable projects are a taste and perfume of accomplishment.
Wetengere invited me to a viewing of his first serious attempt in Reading a city with a large number of of UK based Tanzanian students. “Coactum” was about a young lady being coerced to perform an abortion. This is a problem of African females. The second endeavour was writing scripts and striving to get funding. Kitojo was(and is) always interested in true stories. Film Freeway, an international cinema forum describes him as such:
“Wetengere's passion is to educate society by using film medium, tackling most critical political and social issues whilst entertaining audiences...”
So, in 2020 Asking God was completed. In Swahili with English subtitles the 139 minutes thriller steers three main themes. Family of three. Abusive husband, Moses (played by Saidi Kitanji) who quite early on is seen pointing a gun at his wife Rosemary (Rene Joseph). Then their child, Regina (Ester Said Ndalu) knocked down by car and is in a life supporting machine. The pressures and tensions to have her survive, unfold deep rooted emotions plus religious beliefs.
This is the second theme. Christianity and the role of religion in contemporary Africa.
Third theme is the corrupt, husband, Moses' dodgy deals shedding light on institutional financial dishonesty. At the end of the film there is redemption and Wetengere puts his stamp on the importance of family and community cohesion.
The new director was born in Suji, not far from Mount Kilimanjaro, North East Tanzania in the 1970s. After graduating with a Masters degree in Sound design for Film at Bournemouth University he settled at Basingstoke with his family. Asking God was a low budget of £7,000 which in film economics is meagre but expensive for him.
Wetengere speaks of self- sacrifice. Doing odd jobs to maintain his family and keep this creative dream buzzing. He says it is very hard to get funding as our East African businesses do not yet bother invest in cinema. So far Asking God has been accepted at two international film festivals in Canada (Motion Pictures International Festival- MOPIFF) and Boden in Sweden.
Meantime the determined writer is working on his second long feature; aiming to highlight illegal poaching and destruction of our wildlife. Asking God can be seen by logging into NUELLA TV – a site for African and International films.
Contact Wetengere Tel +44- 7886 902558.
Freddy Macha is a London based Tanzanian writer and musician.
-Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
