Kwa Heri means Goodbye

I still have one day left in Nairobi but today was my last on the set of TOGETHERNESS SUPREME. I underestimated how hard it would be to say goodbye to my new friends in Kibera.

Shoot Schedule

Here's the shoot schedule for my last two days in Nairobi:

WED

1pm Shoot Scene at ODM office (downtown) and grab quick interview with actor playing the role of Raila Odinga and other behind the scenes footage

2pm Taxi to Kibera to reshoot an interview with Geofrey (Otieno) and a woman who lives in "Mwangi's Compound" where many scenes were filmed on the set that was built there

3:30pm Shoot an interview with the Pastor and Elder of a church that was nearly burned to the ground during the post-election violence and was a location for the film

4:30pm Shoot behind the scenes of the final scene in the film!

5:30pm Shoot Collins, a set runner, showing us a development project in Kibera sponsored by his youth group and interivew his mother about her salon being burned during the post election violence

7:00pm Wrap

THURS

1pm Meet Martha, who plays Alice, the love interest of Otieno and Kamau, at her home in Kibera then document her youth group rehearsing an "edu-tainment" performance about the issue of HIV / AIDS

WRAP!!!!

(Then digitize footage for translation here in Kenya, pack bags, leave for airport at 6am on Friday morning. Layover in London with fab filmmaker Minou and home with hubby on Sat!!!)

Working Hard

Some highlights from the past few days:

Shooting the sunrise in Kibera - the opening shot of the doc? Faith, a Kibera trainee, visiting her former home and getting swarmed by neighborhood children. Jahill, another trainee, winding us thru a maze of dirt pathways in Kibera on his way home. Hanging out with Geofrey -- who plays Luo lead Otieno -- and his friends near Dandora. Chris -- who plays a thug named Masher -- reenacting the scene when he was shot by the police years ago. Finally getting an interview with Wilson who plays the Kikuyu star Kamau. Documenting a scene at a church that was nearly burned down during the post-election violence.

And some photos (top to bottom):

Silliness on the set, Wilson (Kamau) at home in Embakasi, Chris (Masher) near the scene where he was shot, Geofrey (Otieno) in front of his childhood home, Jahill at the start of the maze of footpaths in Kibera

No Blogger Support

i wanted to share a clip of music i recorded in kibera but keep getting an error message from blogger when i try to upload the quicktime file that says:

contact blogger support and reference
Blog Id:1061129650221052587
Video Id:e5fb0e0384132f32

but then it turns out there is no way to contact blogger support! i've spent hours in a vicious circle trying to figure it out to no avail. will try to post a video clip of the musician when i'm back in the states...

Catching my breath

What a whirlwind the past several weeks have been. From the moment I decided to document production of the feature film TOGETHERNESS SUPREME my life has been turbocharged. With only two weeks to prepare I had to make a leap of faith and hope I would hit the ground in Kenya running.

And I did. Tripped a couple times but I somehow managed to stay on my feet despite lack of funds to hire a fulltime cameraman, bringing the wrong tapestock, my phone getting stolen, exposure problems, scheduling unknowns and all the usual challenges of life in Africa. There's no way that I could have done it without the generous support of friends, family and even complete strangers. Thanks again and again.

Happily, the past several days I've actually had the chance to catch my breath and get some much needed rest. I've logged and digitized most of the footage we've shot so far, and I have a much better sense of the story we've been able to capture. I'm even starting to visualize the film from beginning to end. And one of the biggest benefits is that I can now anticipate what I need to shoot in my last week here. It's gonna be a challenge to get it all done but with a little luck I should leave here with the footage I need.

And then as soon as I get home I'll need to start looking for enough funding to edit a short fundraising sample. If you meant to contribute previously via but missed your chance via The Point, please consider making a donation via PayPal (link above right). Up to now I've been producing this project on the thread of a shoestring and not paying myself anything. But I can't sustain myself or the film without securing completion funds to cover future costs. My goal is to complete a rough cut by the time of the world premiere of TOGETHERNESS SUPREME in Kibera next January. Ideally, I'd like to return to document the event and discover what has transpired in the lives of the cast and crew.

But for now I'm focused on the week ahead. I depart in 8 days, 21 hrs, 24 mins!

PS: There's only a few hours left to vote on which product makes the best story (see previous post)

short and sweet

Very quick update - since it's been a week.

Last Sunday we went far behind the scenes to meet the families of the three main characters in the film. We met the wife and three adorable kids of Chris, Geofrey's street family of lifelong friends, and Wilson's aging grandmother.

Early this week I digitized all the footage I've shot so far (over 20 hours). Now I have a better idea of the structure of the story I'm hoping to tell and what footage I need in order to complete the film. I've decided to extend my stay so that I can capture the rest of the story.

I must admit that making this film has been much much tougher than I imagined. I'm facing all the usual challenges of making a documentary plus an extremely limited budget and a schedule that I can't define because it is dependent on the feature film. The feature itself has double the normal challenges of an indie film because over half the crew are trainees that have never worked on a film before and they are the first Kenyan crew to shoot on the RED camera. So they've had lots of surprises and troubles with scheduling as well. But somehow both the feature and doc are getting made...and I think both films will be a success.

Finally, I have not mentioned my role as mentor yet and just wanted to say that I've been enjoying working with the feature film's "behind-the-scenes" crew who are three youth from Kibera: Wilfred and Victor on camera and Julius editing.

I promise a longer post soon.

Derailed

In my last post I mentioned getting back on track, but today the production was totally derailed. The shoot was called off, and a meeting was held with all the department heads. Nobody said it would be easy. The good news is that the spirit of "togetherness" has prevailed, and we will resume shooting on Monday.

Meanwhile, I've been able to a capture more incredible footage:

A local musician playing an improvised hybrid drum and guitar shared a song he wrote called "Tushirikiane" which means Together We Unite. I'm hoping to rerecord it and use it in the doc. (will post an audio clip and photo soon)

During the climatic scene of the film that recreates the post-election violence in Kibera we captured raw emotions from both Luo and Kikuyu actors. Chris, a Luo playing a youth campaigner who incites a riot, was so in character as he brandished his panga (machete) in front of our camera that I felt a tremor of real fear. Witnessing the scene, Wilson, the lead Kikuyu actor, sank into deep sadness as he was reminded of his painful past.

The last scene of the day they shot the set catching fire (with mostly controlled special effects)!

The next day we were able to shoot a ton of establishing and slice of life shots of Kibera. Plus a young kid named Felix performed a rap about Kibera on camera.

Today we arrived early to capture the behind-the-scenes set up for the opening scene of the film when a fat businessman hits a street kid with his Mercedes. One of the crew members compared the scene to Kenyan politics saying that -- just like the fat businessman -- politicians in this country do not want to take responsibility for their actions unless they are forced to do the right thing.

We're off tomorrow and then Sunday is a big day where we are following the lead actors home and meeting their family and friends.