Films tackle various themes related to social justice
Saturday September 14 2024
When a timid man looks away during a sexual assault, he starts to develop a rapidly spreading mysterious skin rash threatening to transform him into a mythical creature known as the "Jimbi". PHOTO | POOL
A timid man, who looks away during a sexual assault starts to develop a rapidly spreading mysterious skin rash, threatening to transform him into a mythical creature known as Jimbi.
This is the gist of the Ugandan short film, Jimbi, which was among eight short films on sexual and reproductive health rights and justice shown at International University of East Africa in Kampala on September 6.
From Tanzania came Unasemaje, about a girl in a fictional coastal town in East Africa who becomes mysteriously pregnant just weeks before her wedding, claiming Immaculate Conception. Unyagoni (documentary), Before Sixteen (documentary), Detour (fiction), Sukari (fiction), 1992 (fiction), and Red Line (documentary) made up the rest of the list.
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Saitabab Kaiyare and Mumo Liku directed and produced Unyagoni. In which Bahati Ngazi, a promising young sex educator, embarks on a compelling journey to elevate her status from an advanced beginner, or Mkileso, to an intermediate educator, known as Kungwi, in the Swahili cultural sex education known as Unyago.
In Before Sixteen, from Burundi, Rwanda, and Kenya, Elizabeth became a mother at 16 after a sexual assault, and now, 15 years later, she revisits her past, unravelling the complex emotions and challenges of raising her child under extraordinary circumstances.
In Detour, after a passionate night, Kwambox faces life-altering choices when she crosses paths with her ambitious cousin. As secrets unfold during a mysterious detour, love is tested in unexpected ways at dawn over the right valley.
Sukari, from Kenya, was directed by Omar Hamza, and produced by June Wairegi. A conservative Muslim man’s life is turned upside down when his wife demands an orgasm.
The Kenyan film 1992, was directed and produced by Gilbert Lukalia and Shirleen Wangari respectively. A modern-day young couple takes us behind the scenes of the dating world in 1992 Nairobi.
The fiction and documentary films are part of the Get Reel project, facilitated by Docubox, an East African Documentary film organisation, with support from the Hewlett Foundation and the Wellsprings Philanthropic Fund.