KIBERA KID on Reuters News Service

Check out this piece by Reuters on KIBERA KID and Kibera! Play below...

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Reminder :Hot Sun Foundation Launch

On October 4th, at Alliance Francaise-Nairobi 3.30pm,we will be screening the KIBERA KID short film by popular demand!It will be an exciting afternoon as we will also screen a documentary on the making of the feature film.Cast and crew will be there for question and answer.We will also present a film made by youth from Kibera.
Don't miss this chance to see these films and learn about our work in Kibera.

Above left;Some of the youth from Kibera during a shoot.

Update:Carol Njoki and Evans Kang'ethe

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AFRICALA 2007
Festival of African Film in Latin America
Community Cinema, Cabudare, Lara, Venezuela
12 September 2007
Projection and discussion of KIBERA KID

Thank you for your wonderful work and for the excellent presentation by Pamela Collett.

After seeing the short film, KIBERA KID, we had a very interesting feedback session which personally led me to several reflections, which I shared with Pamela. I told her that I admired how, by means of viewing a short film, I could have moments of personal reflection. Furthermore, I realized that this short film KIBERA KID was very useful for self criticism and critical thought.

KIBERA KID is not about seeing and lamenting a reality or to look on from a distance at a reality as if it could not happen nearby. This is not a world apart. That which KIBERA KID shows is our world, our planet, our humanity.

I repeat KIBERA KID is not to makes us feel sad. I believe the objective (of KIBERA KID) goes beyond simply awakening an ephemeral sentimentality. It (KIBERA KID) is about constructing critical minds and thinking that awakens the desire in each of us to develop worthwhile action. It is about questioning our own lives and the way we live.

Thank you KIBERA KID for reminding me what I need to remember. Thank you Pamela for your pleasant, fresh, humanistic, critical and responsible presence. I don't want to lose contact with you. Perhaps I can be of some assistance.

Erika Montero, Cabudare, Lara State, Venezuela

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KIBERA KID in Caracas, Venezuela

Presentation and Discussion of the short film
KIBERA KID with Pamela Collett of Hot Sun Films
at the Pedro Gual Institute of Advanced Diplomatic Studies
11 September 2007 Caracas, Venezuela

Thank you for the production of such an excellent short film (KIBERA KID), not only for Africa, but also for all of Latin America and the world. As we say, an image is worth more than a thousand words. On behalf of the Pedro Gual Institute of Advanced Diplomatic Studies in Caracas, Venezuela and my colleagues, I send you our thanks for having shared with us your time, experience and positive energy, which was very special and valuable for us.

I hope that we stay in touch through email so that later we can meet again and come closer in sharing our ideas, experience and energy. For the development of a new world, in which there will be the possibility of many worlds, goodbye for now.

Victor Aaron Liendo

PS. I wish you success with the feature film of KIBERA KID, which in spite of obstacles, will come into being very soon with the commitment of your son, Nathan Collett, yourself and the people of Kibera and with the outstanding peopleof Africa, America and other regions of the world, who are the hope of a new world. We wish you success and count on us from here in Venezuela.

Swahili proverb: Who tells the truth never makes a mistake.

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Call and Response: VIDEO Exchange KIBERA AND USA

THE FIRST EVER KIBERA-USA video exhange programme! CALL AND RESPONSE.

Youths from Kibera working with Hot Sun Films/Hot Sun Foundation alongside Ghetto Wasanii Company have started the CALL AND RESPONSE video exchange programme with BAY CAT in San Francisco USA. It will take place from the month of September to December 2007.

The programme is a platform for youth in the slums of Kibera and those in the ghettos of America to expose and share their way of life. Call and Response will be done using the exchange of short video pieces containing different topics from the group members,such as who they are,how they spend their day in the ghetto and what they are doing to empower themselves.

We are excited about this exchange and opening up new possibilities for both Kibera and San Francisco, USA!

Update:Carol Njoki and Evans Kangethe, revised by Nathan Collett

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PROFILE OF HOT SUN FOUNDATION

SUNDAY NATION (KENYA) 16TH SEPTEMBER 2007
"Foundation to tap film-making talent :
Hot Sun Foundation a film training outfit for children from the slums,will be officially launched next month.
The foundation is the brain child of film makers,Nathan Collett and Ravneet Sippy Chadha,the directors of the 2006 film,KIBERA KID which will be screened at the Nueva Mirada International Film Festival in Argentina this month.KIBERA KID starred youngster Ignatius Juma,and gave birth to HipHop Festival at which other ghetto films from around the world were screened in February this year. The enthusiasm from the cast of the film and those who attended the festival,provided the germ-seed for Ghetto Wasanii Company,a writer's group where these budding actors are taught about short story writing,scripting and camera handling.The efforts of Ghetto Wasanii Company will be showcased at the second Kenya International Film Festiva(KIFF) scheduled for the end of this month at the Kenya National Theatre,Alliance Francaise and Goethe Institute auditoriums.
Hot Sun Foundation is part of Hot Sun Films which shot,Subira,the short,low budget film which Chadha has just finished directing in Lamu.The story revolves around 11- year- old Subira(Saada Mohammed),her mother (Mwanatum Ahmed)and her grandmother (Aisha).All are residents of Lamu and have no previous acting experience.
But for five days and without sets,they managed to pull off the story of Subira,the rebellious girl who struggles against her mother's wishes to break free from the usual norms of a conventional life. Subira will premiere at KIFF alongside Collett's film Chronic in Kenya and other short and full length feature films and docu-dramas from local and other film makers from around the world.Subira will then be screened on local television stations before being screened at Film Festivals around the world."

Update:Carol Njoki and Evans Kangethe.

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SETTING UP OUR OFFICE

Setting up the office is hard work! Here Evans is hard at work...
We are commissioning some artwork for inside our offices, more to come soon!

(Post, and Cellphone still by Nathan Collett)

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KIBERA KID in DRUM Magazine East Africa

Check out DRUM magazine East Africa on 24th September 2007,for a two page profile on the star of KIBERA KID short film.
Update:Carol Njoki and Evans Kangethe.Kibera

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KIBERA KID on Al Jazeera English --online!

KIBERA KID short pilot film was showcased on Al Jazeera English news....and the piece is now online, posted by the folks at Al Jazeera English....you can watch it at...
"Kenya slum becomes movie location"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mSV6aW4-sOQ
(post by Nathan Collett)

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Messages from Chivacoa, Venezuela

Messages for Hot Sun Films and the people of Kibera
from the Community Cinema in the town of Chivacoa, Yaracuy state, Venezuela
13 September 2007 after watching KIBERA KID

Congratulations to Hot Sun Films for its work in community filmmaking.
Jose Noel Ochoa

From Yaracuy, Venezuela, the land of enchantment of our queen, Maria Lionza, we send our congratulations. You are a great example of our shared struggle. We hope that you can come and help us make our own community films.
Karina Alvarez

May God continue blessing you every day for the work you are doing and help you find better and more ways to bring joy to the children of Kibera. The world is a better place thanks to people like you who share with others.
Claudio Torar

I hope with all my heart that what you are trying to do with community cinema (cine popular) will succeed. People like you and your son are needed to contribute to social equality in the world and the struggle for the rescue of people's identity. I hope that all goes well in your work.
Annery Gonzalez Jimenez

Please accept my greetings of solidarity and friendship from a Venezuelan who is opening frontiers for Venezuela to be a country of freedom. For victory in our struggle for a great homeland.
Dennie Cordero

I wish you all the best to reach your dream of helping the place where you are working and to reach your goal. I send you many greetings from Chivacoa and a lot of strength from your friend of the Cultural Mission Group of Yaracuy. We are waiting for you to visit us.
Marlene Rivas

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KIBERA KID at AFRICALA 2007, Festival of African Film,

KIBERA KID at AFRICALA 2007, Festival of African Film,
Venezuela ,7-13 September 2007
sponsored by the Cinemateca Nacional of Venezuela

Kibera Kid was a hit wherever we went in Venezuela.

KIBERA KID was shown at the press conference and at the opening of AFRICALA 2007 in Caracas. Following the showings, the audience asked many questions about life in Kibera.

Pamela Collett went with the Cinematecal Nacional to show KIBERA KID at two Sala Comunitarias (Community Cinemas) outside Caracas.

The Salas Comunitarias (currently 97 in operation) are in communities that previously had no cinema, either commercial or non-commercial. The community agrees to provide a room and the Cinemateca Nacional provides the projection equipment and sends films on a regular basis. This is a very important part of "cine popular"… or cinema for all… so that people have access to see good films and discuss them.

The experience of the Salas Comunitarias and the response to Kibera Kid was overwhelming. This is what is needed in Kibera, in Kenya and in Africa in general. Communities who have access to and can participate in viewing, discussing, and reflecting on good films. The comments were very positive. After viewing KIBERA KID, people were really thinking about what does Kibera and the people of Kibera mean to them.

People in the Community Cinemas thought KIBERA KID was excellent, interesting to watch, and that it gave them insight into urban slum life in Africa. They want more, much more. They support the work of Hot Sun Films and hope we can get support for the feature film version of KIBERA KID.

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KIBERA KID aired on Aljazeera

The famous short film KIBERA KID which has won seven film awards both locally and internationally was featured on Aljazeera on 16th of september 2007 at 3pm.
Update:Carol Njoki and Evans Kangethe,Kibera.

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Finally an office in Karanja,Kibera

The Team outside our new offices (cellphone photo by Nathan Collett)

Report from Kibera, Kenya

Through the combined efforts of Ghetto Wasanii members,Evans,Jeff and Carol under the leadership of Nathan Collett of Hot Sun Films/Hot Sun Foundation an office was finally opened in Karanja,Kibera on Thursday 13th September 2007.It was not an easy task as we had to hustle and shuffle through the streets of Karanja in Kibera trying to find a vacant room.At first we managed to find two vacant rooms but they were too expensive for Hot Sun Films /Hot Sun Foundation considering most of the expenditure comes from their individual pockets as they wait for well wishers to fund them.

We managed to get a deserted office but the owners became fishy and kept postponing dates for handing over the keys to us,after fruitless waiting we decided to look somewhere else.That is how we finally got our present office.It is situated just by Karanja road in Kibera near Masjid mosque.The office has electricity quite a big difference from the previous Ghetto Wasanii meeting place,we used to meet at the backyard of one of the members who was kind enough to share his compound with us.It was an open space making it imposible to hold meetings during the rainy seasons or under the scorching sun.

"Im happy now that we have an office because things will be running smoothly,there will be no disturbance as we write stories or read books"Muthama a member of ghetto wasanii says excitedly.Evans Kangethe also a member and the main guy put in charge of looking for the office remarked "I couldn't have done it without the support of my fellow members,now concentration will be of high standard because there is electricity.It will also be easier to mobilize youth since the office is easily accessible especially to visitors." Thumbs up to Hot Sun Films/Hot Sun Foundation for making our dreams a reality!

By Carol Njoki.

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KIBERA KID short, Chicago, USA

Screening at the the Chicago Int'l Children's Film Festival 2007!

• Sunday, October 21, 5:00 p.m. Facets Cinema
• Monday, October 22, 11:45 a.m. Harold Washington Cultural Center

If you are in the area please check it out and send us a report on the screening!

A PDF of the Weekend and Weekday Schedules will be available at the website www.cicff.org at the end the month (Sept).

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New Kibera Office Sign

Here's a picture of our newly commissioned sign for our Kibera offices...more to come!
(Photo by Chris Elam)

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KIBERA KID playing Oct.4 Nairobi, Kenya

On Thursday October 4th from 3pm to 4.30pm at Alliance Francaise in Nairobi,we will be screening,by popular demand! The KIBERA KID short film!

It will be an exciting afternoon... as we will also screen a documentary on the making of the feature film.Cast and crew will be there for a question and answer session.

Our team from Kibera will also be there. We will also screen Subira,shot in Lamu and present films made by youth from Kibera.Don't miss this chance to see these films and learn more about our films and our work in Kibera.

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New KIBERA KID Website up

Nairobits has designed a new website for KIBERA KID short film and upcoming feature film,Hot Sun Foundation and Ghetto Wasanii Company. Its now up, though we are still fine tuning it!

Please visit www.kiberakid.com

Update by:Carol Njoki and Evans Kangethe,Kibera.

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New Offices openning soon in Kibera

After along struggle without an office, Hot Sun Films,Hot Sun Foundation and Ghetto Wasanii Company will soon open an office at Karanja Estate in Kibera.This office will be of great importance for the three parties since they will be holding their meetings and other social events at the venue. The office will easen their daily projects as they try to change the lives of Kiberans.

Update Evans Kangethe and Carol Njoki, Kibera.

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IN DAILY NATION SEPT.9 2007

From Sunday Nation Kenya Lifestyle page 9.

"KIBERA KID: Elsewhere Nathan Collett's 2006 film Kibera Kid,the story of a twelve year old street boy torn between gang life and redemption through music, has been screened at various filmfestivals around the world. It featured in the Brazilian student Film Festival,and the SanDiego International Children's Film Festival in July and the Monterrrey International Film Festival last month in Mexico. This month Kibera Kid,which was locally launched in February 2007,will be shown at the Nueva Mirada International FilmFestival in Argentina before moving to the London and Kolkata Film Festival in India in November."

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KIBERA KID IN VENEZUELA

Pamela Collett, Hot Sun Films coordinator, with poster, at AFRICALA team of the CINEMATECA NACIONAL de Venezuela holding the poster to announce the Festival!

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KIBERA KID in Venezuela

KIBERA KID is screening in CARACAS and across the country as part of the AFRICALA program....from sept 7th to 13th....

For more information.... www.cinemateca.gob.ve

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KIBERA KID on REUTERS AFRICA JOURNAL

KIBERA KID will be featured on REUTERS Africa Journal airing across Africa....

in Kenya it airs 10:30pm KTN Sept. 6th and re-runs Saturday Sept 8th at Noon.

I'm told the piece is also on the Reuters TV site, and you can see it online at
http://tv.reuters.com ( under in-depth). it should be on the website from Monday Sept 10th

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