Lola Kenya Screen, the annual audio-visual media festival, production workshop and market for children and youth in eastern Africa—that holds in Nairobi, Kenya, every second week of August—has announced the names of candidates for her 4th skill-development programmes to be held 2009 August 10-15 in Nairobi, Kenya.

The names of successful applicants were made available to the international media in Zanzibar, Tanzania, during the 12th Zanzibar International Film Festival on 2009 July 1.

The Nairobi-based Lola Kenya Screen has—since her inception in October 2005—been exploring, identifying and nurturing talent among children and youth in areas such as screen-writing, cinematography, production, marketing, distribution, creative journalism, event planning and presentation, and critical appreciation of creativity.

Lola Kenya Screen was established as a movement that uses appropriate and available technologies to deliver audiovisual media content that complements, enhances, entertains and promotes learning among children and youth in the promotion of literacy, gender equity, independent thought, human rights, environmental responsibility and global health.

Apart from the Television Drama workshop that is aimed at adults (above 18 years) interested in creating audiovisual media works for children and youth, the rest of the programmes target people defined by the laws of Kenya as children, i.e. children and youth (under 18 years).

Film Production

1. Njeri Waithera Nesbith, 13, Braeside School
2. Alex Ndegua, 16,Ruiru Boys secondary
3. Brian Saruni, 14, Highway Secondary School
4. Charlene Ndolo, 14, German School
5. Charmaine Ndolo, 14, German School
6. Crystal Ndolo, 7, Riara Road Primary School
7. Daniella Kinyanjui, 11, Mount Kenya Academy
8. Flora Wanjiru, 16, Githurai Mixed Secondary School
9. Fredrick Ochieng, 16, Bridgeway School
10. Irene Esonga, 16, Kahawa Garrisson Secondary School
11. Michael Mwangi, 15, Moi ForcesAcademy Event Organisation & Presentation/MC
12. Tracy Muringa, 14, State House Girls High School
13. Bernard Otieno, 15, Moi Forces Academy
14. Nicholas Ngugi Ngobe, 10, Almond Land School
15. Rushel Rang’ala, 17, Cardinal Otunga High School Mosocho Film Jury
16. Samantha Wangui, 8, Riara Road Primary School
17. Sauda Hamisi, 12, St Arnold Jansen School
18. Vanessa Wanjiku, 8, BuruBuru I Primary School
19. Wangari Mumbi Kiarie, 15, Kianda School
20. Vivian Atieno, 16, Annointed High School Creative Journalism/Festival Press
21. Whitney Kerubo Otenyo, 13, Excel Academy
22. Antony Mukiri Chege, 12, Uthiru Primary School
23. Harun Muange, 15, Moi Forces Academy
24. Kathleen Siminyu, 15, Kianda School
25. Polet Njeri, 15, Alliance Girls High School
26. Mina Ogova, 11, Greenyard Junior School

Television Drama 1. Moses Siku, 22, Multi-Media University 2. Mitchelle Janga’ra, 18, Limuru Girls’ School 3. Ken Mbugua, 26 4. Charles Thuku , 18 5. Catherine Kiambati 6. Anthony Micheni Metha 7. Janet Mose, 18

Cotton needs black soil. Once British colonial rulers had cotton from this land to the mills of Lancashire in cheap and made huge profit out of that. But the condition of farmers had hardly improved. Even after independence farmers were strangled time and again by the middlemen and money lenders. Various banks under the auspice of Indian government were supposed to support the farmers through loan for seeds, tractors or tilling means. But it almost remained in paper. Yet these farmers had continued their survival in a hard uncomplaining way. In the last few years situation had taken a dramatic turn. On 30th June, 2006 one Ramdas Ganpat Bhagat had committed suicide only to join his name in the list of more than 1600 farmers who died allegedly by being debt ridden. The then prime minister of India Mr. Manmohan Singh was supposed to visit that region at that time.

Ramdas took that poison actually which India took under the Congress regime by signing GATT. Prime minister of now a days India, MR. Manmohan Singh, was finance minister then. He was earlier an employee of World Bank. He lead the triumvirate that includes Mr. Pranab Mukharjee and Mr. P.Chidambaram to open up India to neo-liberal policies. In today’s Congress regime too Mr. Mukharjee is finance minister and Mr. Chidambaram is home minister of India. Mr. Singh has excelled to the post of Premiership. Trio is active and India is waiting to face the onslaught of another open up process.

Chandan Bhaduri, a David from West Bengal has taken up to fight this Goliath with a documentary ‘Where Farmers Fear’. He had been to Vidarbha at that period when one after another suicide were taking place. He strenuously investigated the whole causalities and came to a conclusion that India’s so-called liberal economy is responsible for this. Cotton exporter India has been reduced to a mino by the import syndrome. India and other developing countries are yet to open up the interim markets of United States of America and his allies. They has failed till date to pursue these big states to stop subsidizing their farmers,  whereas they themselves had to stop it immediately after signing the treaty. In India banks are playing to neo-liberal dictates and are not providing loans to farmers in most possible occasions. Thus they are being thrown to the hands of vulture money lenders who squeezes a steep interest from them. Governments, as usual, deny this and Chandan’s penetration in the heart of this issue proves that the government is lying.

In a part of his documentary we meet a village which is for sell in it’s entirety. It has no water, no electricity, no food, no health-centre or care. It had lands that are dry now. It had failed crops and broken inhabitants. One of them is sitting idly on road whom Chandan encounters. He vomits all his bitterness in a missive missile attack. He has lost hope. He now does not regard any institution or good will. It all seems a farce to him. This could have been the case of another state of India too. In Kerala farmers were doing almost the same thing. Coffee, a cash crop, had ruined them due to lack of rain and governmental policies. But the state of Kerala under the commission of Mr. Prabhat Patnayak, an economist who is noted for his anti-liberal stand, had combated it successfully. The Kerala government of Mr. Acchyutanandan had waived crores of rupee loans from the sagging shoulder of distressed farmers. They were using psychologists to strengthen the nerves of depressed farmers.

The Maharastra government under the leadership of Mr. Sharad Pawar, who is India’s minister of Agriculture, Food and Consumer Affairs, are sending so-called godmans to help farmers. This government is ready to provide outworldy solution rather than an actual one. Mr. Pawar and his party NCP (Nationalist Congress Party), a Congress ally, is backing government’s economical policies.  He himself is busy with the affairs of BCCI (Board of Cricket Control in India) and is prompt to announce a bulky prize money to players who will hit sixes in T20 tournament of IPL (Indian Premier League). He had been accused by oppositions in number of occasions in Chandan’s documentary as being hand in glove with Monsanto Corporation, the giant seed company whose genetic engineering and its business is under suspicion worldwide. The region of Vidarbha is facing the consequences of his act too. Resistances in the local levels are growing, but yet not so strong to derail the whole process of so-called liberalization.

Chandan’s movie has been an witness to all these varied and valuable truths.He himself is a man who has a defect in his walking. But surely he walks with his head held high. He has the courage to hold the mirror to a naked king. When he met that lonely, bitter fellow in the village which is ready for an outright sell, he asked him whether that fellow is satisfied with the governance. The man is intoxicated with local and cheap variety of alcoholic substance. He barely can stand. But after another burst of missives he asked in a clear and penetrating manner, “How we will live brother!”

That is the question India, that is Bharat and not signing, is asking for decades and no body from the ruling class is paying heed to that. Chandan Bhaduri, with his often slow fade in and outs and dissolves and often quick cuts, jump cuts is carrying these questions to an illuminating human documentation. This movie is one of the strongest and honest documentary made in India in the recent past and kudos to Chandan for that.

For the video displays that were playing throughout the conference,  I collected 10 technically and artistically accomplished movie remixes that showcase the value of an open video environment.  The artists I chose take a wide range of  approaches to editing pre-existing movie footage.

Blogger, video remixer, and cultural activist Elisa Kreisinger also curated remix videos that demonstrate the political importance of fair use and open video standards.

You can visit www.totalrecut.com/openvideo to watch online versions of all the videos Elisa and I screened at the conference.

315 films in 33 languages from 50 nations were received.

To give better visibility to the films which have been selected, screenings have been organized into nine categories. For competition categories, Lola Kenya Screen showcases the best recent — up to 32 months — international films for children and youth.

For 2009, a new category — 14 Plus — has been introduced into competition. Previously, only films for 6–13-year-olds had competed for the Lola Kenya Screen Golden Mboni Award for the best children’s film.

4th Golden Mboni Award Competition

• IO PARLO|I’LL TELL ON YOU!, Marco Gianfreda, Italy, 2009
• THE MAGIC STAMP, Tomoko Oguchi, USA, 2009
• FOR A FISTFUL OF SNOW, Julien Ezri,Switzerland, 2009
• POLO, Claver Yameogo, Burkina Faso, 2009
• AAN MARD|THAT MAN, Behrooz Ghobadi, Iran, 2008
• DELROY KINCAID, Powys Dewhurst, Canada, 2008
• FREDERIKKE, Heidi Maria Faisst, Denmark, 2008
• HAMMERHEAD, Sam Donovan, UK, 2008
• IZULU LAMI|MY SECRET SKY, Madoda Ncayiyana, South Africa, 2008
• KUR PALUDIS ELVIS|FINDING ELVIS, Una Celma, Latvia, 2008
• MAN HAM HASTAM|I EXIST, Afshin Khaledi, Iran, 2008
• MUSEN|THE MOUSE, Pil Maria Gunnarsson, Denmark, 2008
• EL REGALA DE LA PACHAMAMA|PACHAMAMA, Toshifumi Matsushita, USA, 2008
• PAMELA, James Kanja, Kenya, 2008
• SMALL BOY, Michelle Bello, Nigeria, 2008
• THE HAPPY DUCKLING, Gili Dolev, Israel|Scotland, 2008
• UNA VIDA MEJOR|A BETTER LIFE, Luis Fernandez Reneo, Spain, 2008
• CUENTO DE LA C|THE C STORY, Carlos Navarro, Spain, 2008
• BESTIARIO, Sergio Vega Borrego, Spain, 2008
• GHOLAKI KE PEIDA KARDAM|THE PIGGY BANK THAT I FOUND, Arsham Naghshbandi, Iran, 2008
• SOTTO IL MIO GIARDINO|UNDER MY GARDEN, Andrea Lodovichetti, Italy, 2007

14 Plus Competition

• HOUNA & MANNY, Jared Katsiane, USA, 2009
• A BEAUTIFUL TRAGEDY|BALLERINA: A BEAUTIFUL TRAGEDY, David Kinsella, Norway, 2008
• UGUGU NO ANDILE|GUGU AND ANDILE, Minky Schlesinger, South Africa, 2008
• FROM A WHISPER, Wanuri Kahiu, Kenya, 2008
• ZIMBABWE, Darrell James Roodt, South Africa|Zimbabwe, 2008
• A CRACK IN THE WALL, Philippe Talavera, Namibia, 2008
• DEAR MOM, Hsiao Yang-Lun, Taiwan, 2008
• BABALWA’S STORY, Charlene Houston, South Africa, 2008
• CUANDOS CAEN LOS IDOLOS| WHEN THE IDOLS FALL, Tomas Silberman, Spain, 2008
• LA TUERCA|THE NUT, Azul Melissa Martinez, Spain, 2008
• I HEARD YOU LOOKING, Hsiao Yang-Lun, Taiwan, 2007

Films by Students

• PUMS, Federico Martin, Germany, 2009
• THE POTTERY’S TALE, Maryam Bayani, Iran, 2008
• ELEPHANTS, Sally Pearce, UK, 2008
• 4 KILOMETRES, Miri Shapiro, Israel, 2008
• PER SECOND KILLER, Ejim Fortune Kezi, Nigeria, 2008
• EYES ON THE PRIZE, Omar Robert Hamilton, UK, 2008
• ZA HORYZONT|BEYOND THE HORIZON, Kuba Czekaj, Poland, 2007

Films by Youth

• TALISMAN, Runcie Chidebe, Nigeria, 2009
• THE AMERICAN DREAM, Yonnie Andal, Kenya, 2009
• KHOKO’S STORY, Akhona Mangwane, Sibabalwe Nxadi & Khuthala Xhaka, South Africa, 2008
• THOUGHTS IN A HIJAB, Clione Byrne, Eimanne El Zein & Sahar Shakeri, USA, 2008
• YOUNG LOVE?, Azariah Simon,Indigo Sanders, Austin Harris, April Monetbon, Douglas Moffat Jr and Everett Anderson, USA, 2008
• DEFINITION, Cole Dillingham, Mauricette Lekea and Kennedy Zuniga, USA, 2008

Eastern Africa Prism

• THE DANCE FOR WIVES, Paul Ekuru, Kenya, 2008
• UNSEEN, Unsung: Unforgotten, Mona Ombogo-Scott and Risper Njoki, Kenya, 2008
• SAVE A CHILD, Gilbert Lukalia, Kenya, 2008
• TRANSFORMING TOMORROW: GENDER FILM, Daniel Prior, Kenya|Rwanda
• TRANSFORMING TOMORROW: MAIN FILM, Daniel Prior, Kenya|Rwanda, 2008
• TRANSFORMING TOMORROW: SPORTS FILM, Daniel Prior, Kenya|Rwanda, 2008
• BATTLE OF THE SOULS, Matt Bish, Uganda, 2007

World Panorama

• MARAFIKI, Carrie Matiku and Laurence Dworkin, South Africa, 2008
• THE J.H. GUNN PROJECT, Shequeta Smith, USA, 2008
• WHO ARE YOU WEARIN’?, Powys Dewhurst, Canada, 2008
• MANUAL PRACTICO DEL AMIGO IMAGINARIO (ABREVIADO)|IMAGINARY FRIEND PRACTICAL MANUAL(ABREVIATED), Ciro Altabas, Spain, 2008
• IN OUR SHOES, Human Rights Media Centre Collective, South Africa, 2008
• PET SHOP, Michael Gabriel Zenelis, Greece, 2008
• DASTI MOTEVALED MISHAVAD|A HAND HAS BEEN BORN, Bijan Zaman Pira, Iran, 2008
• KHANEYE RO’YAEIE|DREAM HOUSE, Ahoora Zaman Pira, Iran, 2008
• LILLI, Filippo Ticozzi, Italy, 2008
• SARBAZ O JADDEH|THE SOLDIER AND THE ROAD, Nahid Ghobadi, Iran, 2008
• SARBAZI KE SHEKAST|BROKEN SOLDIER, Batin Ghobadi, Iran, 2008
• PUERTAS|DOORS, Roberto Goni, Spain, 2008
• A FRIEND, Brittanie Marques, USA, 2008
• AAB O AAYENEH|WATER & MIRROR, Bijan Zaman Pira, Iran, 2008
• GIRLHOOD, Miki Redelinghuys, South Africa, 2008
• 68 DEGREES & CLEAR, Dawn Westlake, USA, 2007
• RELEVE, Sebastain Natto, Basfrom Caspar & Denis Truembach, Germany, 2007

Special Focus

• First Light Movies, UK, English
• The Best of Kids For Kids Festival 2008, Canada (48 films)
• UNICEF-Fundacion Kine, Argentina (48 films)
• THE DAY AFTER PEACE, Jeremy Gilley, UK, 2008

Television Series

• MELODY MAKERS (EPISODE 4), F Simiyu Barasa, Kenya, 2009
• KNOW ZONE, Victor Gatonye, Kenya, 2008
• Fantasy, THE BEAR: THE BROKEN SEAL, Panea Czarsry & Robert Turlo, Poland, 2006
• Fantasy, THE BEAR: THE LUNARLAND, Andrzej Kukula & Robert Turlo, Poland, 2006

3rd Kids For Kids Africa

• The Kids For Kids Africa line up will be announced 2009 June 30.

[Source: Lola Kenya Screen] [Source: ArtMatters]

Technorati Tags: Africa, Lola Kenya Screen, Film Festival, Kids 4 Kids, Kenya, Nairobi, East Africa, Children, YouthTechnorati/indiefilmcafe

Darklight — which started in 1999 — is Ireland’s premier festival for filmmakers, animators, and artists whose work explores the convergences of art, film, and technology. Darklight Festival brings new work to Irish audiences through cinema, exhibition, and performance; and to international audiences via the Internet, and an annual Touring Program. [Darklight Festival Submission Forms]

BY OGOVA ONDEGO. NAIROBI, KENYA (CINEMA MINIMA) — The 4th edition of the annual Lola Kenya Screen audiovisual media festival for children and youth in eastern Africa will be held at Goethe-Institut in Nairobi, Kenya 2009 August 10–15.

Lola Kenya Screen shall exhibit films from 50 countries. It will train children and youth in the production, appreciation, promotion, distribution, and consumption of high-quality audiovisual media content.

The 3rd Kids For Kids Africa Festival Competition shall also be held in the framework of Lola Kenya Screen. A special programme of the Best of Kids For Kids Films 2008 will be on the cards, courtesy of CIFEJ.

Screenings

The 2009 film exhibition programme is in three sections:

• 09:00-12:30 hrs (for children aged 6-13 years)
• 14:00-16:30 hrs (for 14-17 years)
• and 17:00-20:00 hrs (for 18+ years)

Workshops

The skill-development workshops and seminars will run 09:00-16:00 hrs daily, Monday-Saturday.

A few chances for participation in the skill-development workshops are still open — deadline is 2009 June 30.

Parents and guardians are urged to assist their children in applying for these opportunities without any further delay. Offer is on ‘first-come-first-served’ basis.

Interested parties may direct their inquiries and application to director@lolakenyascreen.org.

More information is on the festival websites, lolakenyascreen.org and artmatters.info

Partners

Lola Kenya Screen will be presented by ComMattersKenya in conjunction with Goethe-Institut in Kenya — and this year is working with UNESCO’s Prix Jeunesse International, and the International Center of Cinema for Children and Youth (CIFEJ).

About Lola Kenya Screen

The only festival in Africa exclusively designed for children and youth, Lola Kenya Screen was established in October 2005 to explore, identify and nurture creative talents among children and youth in areas of filmmaking, cultural journalism, events planning and presentation and critical appreciation of creativity.

Over the past three years, Lola Kenya Screen has, through hands-on mentorship workshops, helped add to Africa’s creative and cultural spectrum:

• 31 child filmmakers
• 14 journalists
• 13 film judges
• 7 MCs
• 15 producers of television drama for youth
• 6 producers of documentary films for children and youth

While Lola Kenya Screen has produced 20 short animation films and six short documentaries that have won — and continue to win — accolades and awards around the world, the festival has also showcased more than 1,200 films from 71 nations, representing all the continents in various genres, formats, and lengths.

BY OGOVA ONDEGO. NAIROBI, KENYA (CINEMA MINIMA) — The 3rd Kids For Kids Africa Competition — a programme of the International Centre of Cinema for Children and Youth (CIFEJ) — is calling for film entries from all over Africa in all genres, lengths, or formats. Films must be received in Nairobi no later than 2009 June 30.

The 3rd Kids For Kids Competition will be held 2009 August 10-15 in Nairobi, Kenya, in the framework of the 4th Lola Kenya Screen audiovisual media initiative for children and youth in eastern Africa.

Eligible films

• Films may be made by children or youth (up to 18 years) resident in any part of Africa.
• All films made in 2008 and 2009 only.
• All kinds of moving images —- animation, experimental, documentary, fiction —- will be considered.
• All films should tackle issues related to children, youth, and family.
• Any film in a language other than English must be sub-titled in English.

All entries will be received, processed, assessed, and awarded by an eclectic and international film selection committee and jury comprised of children and youth.

Winning entries will represent Africa at the Kids for Kids International Competition.

All films are subject to the regulations and guidelines of Lola Kenya Screen as posted on www.lolakenyascreen.org

Film submission details, entry and regulations are online.

Submissions and deadline

Films must be received in Nairobi by 2009 June 30.

Films delivered in person or by courier should be sent to:

If using the postal service, please send to:

In case one requires more information than is available online, one may direct any inquiry to:

Email

director@lolakenyascreen.org

Telephone
Monday-Friday
07:00-13:.00 GMT

+254 20 315258

+254 20 2213318

Mobile telephone
04:00-20:00 GMT

+254 733 703374

+254 722 486531

The deadline for receiving films in Nairobi is June 30, 2009.

The Waking Artist from Jacob Mendel on Vimeo is an adaptation of Franz Kafka’s “The Hunger Artist” following the cinematic artist that refuses to sleep.

BY BILLY BITZER. ST LOUIS MISSOURI USA. 2009 MAY 9 (INSIDE CINEMA MINIMA) — The upgrade to Cinema Minima’s Web server has been completed successfully. The posting of new stories will resume shortly. The most-recent stories have been put online. Older archives will be put online over the course of the coming months.

Benefits for readers

• Speed and reliability: The publication’s Web pages will be delivered rapidly to browsers, all day, every day.
• Syndicated (RSS) feeds will be delivered timely to feed readers.
• Web pages will accomodate “widescreen” movies in large size.

Benefits for Correspondents

• The online newsroom will be available all day, every day, without interruption.
• The interface is easier to use than previously.
• Changes — revisions — to drafts of stories are saved as separate versions which may be compared and retrieved by their authors as required.
• Tags are available to help readers to find stories.
• The publication of stories can be scheduled in advance.

Improvements in performance. In the interest of security, no details of the improvements will be offered here. What can be said is that speed, stability, security, and reliability are paramount. Features — such as widgets which hot-link to social-networking sites — will be evaluated in terms of their effects on performance. [For the updates about Cinema Minima's newsroom or its services, please visit Inside Cinema Minima]

Cinema Minima’s Web servers are hosted by Slicehost, which is located in St. Louis, Missouri USA. We recommend it.

Samora Michelle Oundo, Nyodero and Crystal Ndolo are among 7 children (out of 17) aged 7-14 years who are representing Kenya at the 5th Africa Movie Academy Awards in Nigeria (March 31-April 6, 2009) where their films are competing for top prizes alongside those of professional adult filmmakers.

The other children in the Kenyan delegation to Yenagoa, the capital of the oil-rich Bayelsa State, include Charmaine Nyambura Ndolo, Charlene Ndinda Ndolo, Norrick Joseph Kangethe, and Joseph Kang’ethe Mwangi.

LITTLE KNOWLEDGE IS DANGEROUS, a film on clever-by-half antics by Nyodero, Oundo and Karama Kilibwa Ogova (2007); MANANI OGRES on the importance of being vigilant by Joseph Hongo, Marcus Joseph, Norrick Joseph and Samuel Musembi(2007); and CHEPRONO on thinking before leaping by Joseph Miriri, Charlene Ndolo, Bree Tonga Manuel, Charmaine Ndolo, Mina Ogova, Triston Kayonga, Othman Bakar, Crystal Ndolo, Steven Miriri and Celestine Mwashagha (2008) are competing for the Best Animation Prize against films from Burkina Faso.

Although all the 17 Lola Kenya Children’s Screen filmmakers were invited to Nigeria, only seven can make it to the event as the majority are in school outside Nairobi or do not have national passports. The delegation, consisting of 20, leaves Nairobi for Lagos on March 31 for the AMAA ceremony that takes place on April 4, 2009. While in Nigeria, the delegation will participate in a weeklong cultural programme that will culminate in the awards ceremony.

Another Lola Kenya Screen production, SANTOS THE SURVIVOR, a documentary made by Rupinder Jagdev during the Lola Kenya Screen children and docs workshop in 2008, is competing for the Best Documentary (Short Subject) award.

Whereas LITTLE KNOWLEDGE IS DANGEROUS and MANANI OGRES were made under the guidance of Finnish tutor Maiki Kantola with the support of the Danish Film Institute of Copenhagen, CHEPRONO was made under the facilitation of Egyptian Dr Eid Abdel Latif with the support of Africalia of Brussels, Belgium.

SANTOS THE SURVIVOR, a film on how an orphaned child survives in Nairobi made under the guidance of Dutch documentary filmmaker Duco Tellegen with the support of the Jan Vrijman Fund/IDFA of Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

Meanwhile, the Centre of Films for Children and Youth (CIFEJ) and Kids for Kids Festival (KFKF) in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, have just communicated that LITTLE KNOWLEDGE IS DANGEROUS has just made it to the list of finalists in the international KIDS FOR KIDS FESTIVAL. It is competing in the Animation 13-16-year-old category against Poor Joshua Verde (Australia), Mancipia (Belgium), Carta Animada pela Paz: Os Dois Lados da Favela/The Animated Charter for Peace: The Two Sides of a Shanty Town (Brazil), Peace of Mind (Canada), Sul Filo dei Diritti/Let’s Knit on Human rights (Italy), Corn in the USA (USA) and Perspective: The Chicago Trains (USA).

This film has done very well, having won the Most Creative Production award at Lola Kenya Screen (August 2007), the Grand Prize at 2nd Kids For Kids Africa (August 2008), Special Jury Award at the Jugend Medien Festival Berlin, Germany (May 2008).

LITTLE KNOWLEDGE IS DANGEROUS — like all other Lola Kenya Screen productions — has been screened on virtually all continents where it has won accolades and collected awards along the way.

More information about the Lola Kenya Screen audiovisual media initiative for children and youth in eastern Africa — including high-quality pictures for media use — can be downloaded from the media gallery at <lolakenyascreen.org/>.

Lola Kenya Children’s Screen Productions Nominated for Africa Movie Academy Awards 2009

Films made by children aged 6-15 years during Lola Kenya Screen film production workshops have been nominated for the all-Africa Movie Academy Awards set for Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, Nigeria, on 2009 April 4.

Nominated for Best Animation are LITTLE KNOWLEDGE IS DANGEROUS by Adede Hawi, Samora Michelle and Karama Ogova (2007); MANANI OGRES by Joseph Hongo, Marcus Joseph, Norrick Joseph and Samuel Musembi(2007); and CHEPRONO (2008).

Whereas LITTLE KNOWLEDGE IS DANGEROUS and MANANI OGRES were made under the guidance of Finnish tutor Maiki Kantola with the support of the Danish Film Institute, the latter was made under the facilitation of Egyptian Dr Eid Abdel Latif with the support of Africalia of Belgium.

Also nominated for Best Documentary (Short Subject) is SANTOS THE SURVIVOR, a film on how an orphaned child survives in Nairobi made by Rupinder Jagdev in 2008 during a Lola Kenya Screen film production workshop—Children and Docs—facilitated by Dutch documentary filmmaker Duco Tellegen with the support of the Jan Vrijman Fund/IDFA of The Netherlands.

The nomination of Lola Kenya Screen films was made by AMAA CEO, Peace Anyiam Fiberesima, in Ouagadougou, on 2009 March 3 during the 21st Pan African Film and Television Festival of Ouagadougou (FESPACO).

Though Lola Kenya Screen films are made by children over a four-day period on zero-budget, they have since 2006 been able to successfully stand alongside those made by adult professionals and collected awards in the process.

More information about the Lola Kenya Screen audiovisual media initiative for children and youth in eastern Africa is available by phone 78547017 (during FESPACO period, March 4-12, 2009) and also at www.lolakenyascreen.org and www.artmatters.info