COACHEZ
Kenya 2020 | 14 min
Sat, 15-May-21 05:00 PM
Likarion Wainaina
- Premiere –
Originally a play written by the director herself, this film is a product of closed theatres in pandemic times and it is a setting we are all more than familiar with: because of avoiding physical contact the anger management class has to take place in Zoom. The four very different residents of Nairobi must explain to counsellor Rose which misdemeanours gave the courts the reason to send them to her. Their captivating characters and stories give us an unique insight into the life and various social backgrounds entangled in this East African hub called Nairobi. Or in the words of writer and director Maïmouna Jallow: “I have travelled to all parts of this continent and whether I’m in Nairobi, Accra or Addis, I often feel like our cities are not made for the majority. They are forced to live in the cracks and constantly have to fight a system that should be there to serve them.”
Maïmouna Jallow is a Nairobi-based storyteller, producer, director, communications consultant. In 2015 she co-founded Positively African – an organisation that brings together a Pan-African network of activists, artists and academics working at the intersection between art and social justice. In 2016 and 2018, the organisation held its flagship event, the Re-Imagined Storytelling Festival in Nairobi, Kenya. Maïmouna received the Sanaa Theatre Award for her adaptation of Lola Shoneyin’s The Secret Lives of Baba Segi’s Wives, which she toured internationally. She is also the editor of Story Story, Story Come, a collection of 12 re-imagined folktales from across Africa. In 2019 she co-published the children’s book I am the Colour of Honey. Her work has been featured on the NYT, BBC, Forbes Woman Africa, and The East African, amongst others. Before her transition into storytelling, Maimouna worked as a producer and correspondent for the BBC World Service and managed communications for Medécins Sans Frontières (MSF) in the Horn of Africa region. She holds a Masters in African Literature (SOAS).
Writer & Director: Maïmouna Jallow
Cinematography: Greg Kiwo
Montage: Faith Musembi
Sound: Vickta Joe, Desmond Okeyo
Production: Positively African, Sarah Mallia
Contact: positivelyafricanmedia@gmail.com
Cast: Martina Ayoro, Eddy Kimani, Tana Kioko, Lorella Jowi, Mercy M. Mutisya, Wakio Mzenge