If there are any images made of contemporary Africa at all, it is a grim reality that Africans do not create them according to narrative written by the founder of Maisha Foundation, an organisation whose aim is to assist in recording and telling the stories of the times in East Africa.
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| Renowned Palestinian documentarian Abdel Salaam mentored the 2010 Documentary Lab in Kampala' Royal Impala Hotel |
For the past six years, the Maisha Film Lab has become a beacon for East Africans interested in media.
Independent filmmaker Mira Nair (Monsoon Wedding, Salaam Bombay) started Maisha after discovering that few locally produced films from her adopted country of Uganda were poorly done, and she believed that 'empowerment through training was the key to improving the quality of Ugandan films'.
Inspired by the talent she found in East Africa, and her experience as a filmmaker, Nair initially conceived a contrite idea of Maisha as an arts and cultural centre in Kampala that would provide training and inspiration to artists of all media.
After forming a Board and a small staff for the undertaking, Nair and the Board recognized that aspects of funding and management would prevent the immediate development of an arts center. Thus the decision was made to focus on the more immediate goal of film training labs.
An on-line posting about Maisha reckons, "the organization is motivated by the belief that a film which explores the truths and idiosyncrasies of the specifically local often has the power to cross over and become significantly universal."
Since its inception, Maisha has modified its programs in response to its constituents and external environment. Maisha’s Board made the official decision to focus solely on East African participants, due to the disparity in skill levels of participants, and the differences between the East African and South Asian film industries.
Maisha’s current outreach materials include the long-term goal, to see family grow into alumni of leaders in the development of a local, self-sustaining film industry in East Africa” with a motto: ‘If we don’t tell our own stories, no one else will.’”
To this end, Maisha has offered training to East Africans at no cost to the participants, providing them with the tools to create film.
Working with pro bono mentors drawn from seasoned filmmakers from around the world, though primarily from the United States and Europe, the mentors serve as teaching staff for the ongoing training labs.
The Maisha mentors form the backbone of the Maisha film labs. Each session, Maisha invites a diverse group of directors, screenwriters, film professors, and other industry professionals to hold seminars as well as work one-on-one with Maisha’s screenwriting and directing participants
The just concluded Documentary Lab inside Royal Impala Hotel in Kampala focused on exploring non-fiction forms and developing technical production skills with hands-on workshops with both theoretical approaches and real-world applications in documentary making.
Seventeen participants of directors, editors, cinematographers, and sound persons drawn from Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda Qatar and Pakistan took part in the lab under rich mentor trio of Abdel Salam Shehadeh from Palestina, with extensive experience in television production as well as technical skills in camera and sound.
Peter Chappell has photographed, directed and produced documentaries and fiction films in Africa, Latin America and Middle East. His documentaries such as Our Friends at the Bank and The Origins of AIDS have won numerous international awards and is a mentor at the National Film School in the United Kingdom. And Shireen Pasha is a renowned filmmaker recognized for her sensitive handling of socially relevant themes. Her documentaries have won numerous awards.
Maisha has accomplished much in its first six years. The Maisha Film Lab has trained 400 students in the disciplines of directing, screenwriting, acting, producing, cinematography, editing, and sound design.
Over 30 short films by Maisha students have been screened all over the world. Thanks to a few key private philanthropists and foundations, each of these participants attends Maisha’s programs free of charge.
After the completion of their training, Maisha alumni have gone on to participate in the Berlinale Talent Campus, become staff writers on MNET television serials, write a hit Bollywood film, and be awarded scholarships to MFA programs at New York University and Columbia University.
Thanks to Maisha, there is a greater pool of trained technicians, screenwriters, and directors in East Africa than there has ever been.
A recent survey done by consultants from the NYU Wagner School of Public Management showed that more than 90% of Maisha's alumni have found gainful employment in the local media industries.
In six short years, the Maisha Film Lab has become a beacon for East Africans interested in media, yet it is only the first step towards its broader vision for the Maisha Arts and Cultural Center which addresses the dual goals of arts education and cultural preservation.
"With a population of nearly 700 million, there’s need to see African voices reflected in films, visual arts, literature and general media. Says Nair.
The impact of colonialism and Africa’s post-colonial independence has always been an intermediary for African artists, and now is the time for Africans to reclaim their creative identity".Says Nair.
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