NDOTO ZA ELIBIDI
The plot pivots around the theme of acceptance and love as the protagonists – parents, four daughters and their lovers – come to terms with HIV and ghetto life. Cutting back and forth from fiction to documentary, from the original stage play to actual locations, the film takes viewers on two parallel journeys: we watch the story, but we are also watching it through the eyes of the ghetto audience.
Posted by KenyaChristian
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Cinema - Ndoto za Elibidi |
Jan 11 |
![]() ![]() “This movie comes from a theatrical opera, says Kamau, after we performed the play in slums, schools or near a health centre, many asked us to have a DVD, they wanted to watch it again and again. We thought to shoot the theatrical performance and put it on a DVD. Then we thought, why not shooting it in a better way. This is how we developed the idea of this movie”. “The cast of the original play was chosen through an open audition in Nairobi, adds Nick. We wanted to look at a series of issues facing the people in the slum. The play was devised over a six months period and has been performed for over five years in the slums. I think there is quite a lot of information in the movie that usually Europeans are not clear with. Actually, many young people in Europe are confused. They believe that drugs are available and there is a cure. Also the treatment of rape victims, another underlying theme in the movie, is important. So there is information there, and Europeans should not get too complacent and believe they know it all”.
Nick, after seeing the film screened before a wide audience, what would you change in the script?![]() Zanzibar, Nick and Kamau receive the Cinema Africano di Verona Award. We performed the play for five years. I think we got it where we wanted it before we shot it. Five years preproduction is a rare privilege in film making. We are now working on a new film we want to make with a company from Mombasa, Safe Pwani. We will have a chance to give more stories there.
Kamau, you grew up in a slum. How did your experience influence your work? Yes, I have firsthand experience of life in the slum. This is why I felt part of this project since the beginning, and why we now do a lot of follow up work in the slums. Art is man’s greater means of communication. Health facilities struggle to access the community and have people coming forward for treatment. At SAFE we give people the courage and the vocabulary to make choices that can save their lives. Also there are many movies about HIV/AIDS. This movie is not about that only, it is about hope, giving people a clear signal that they can deal with their situation.
A Briton and a Kenyan ... how do you work together?![]() I saw him in a play and I thought ‘he is good; I want to work with him’. This is how we met, says Nick. We work well together, answers Kamau, We do not fight, we discuss. We share ideas, and we meet at some point. The collaboration is smooth. It is nice working together.
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