Post by obi on Oct 14, 2014 14:17:23 GMT
Kenyan teenager Phoebe Ruguru was always fascinated by films as a child. It is this interest that prompted her to find out how they are made and propelled her to produce an award-winning short film.
Ms Ruguru, who is a student in the United Kingdom, directed her first short film Saidia,becoming the Best Young Filmmaker in this year’s Unchosen Modern Day Slavery Competition 2014.
She is the first Kenyan to win the award, which is in its second year and is aimed at enlightening people about human trafficking and requires participants to create a short film based on case studies.
The film, which was shot in Kenya on a low budget, involved Kenyatta University film students, who helped Ms Ruguru achieve her dream of submitting her work for an international award.
Kevin Njue wrote the script for Saidia,while Bill Jones Afwani was the cinematographer in the film that tells the story of Jurgis, a slave who speaks of the traumatising experience of being overworked and underpaid in a far country where there is no one to turn to.
Congratulations on winning the Best Young Filmmaker in the Unchosen Competition. Tell us about your family and education background?
I am 17 years old. I was born in Kenya and lived with my parents in Nakuru before moving to Limuru with my mother when my parents divorced.
I am an only child, but I have a step-sister, a half-brother and a half-sister who live with my father in Nakuru.
My father is a farmer and my mother just finished her degree in sociology here in England.
I attended nursery school at a small nursery school called Sunflower and then went to Gramabe Academy in Kabuku, Limuru. I moved to St. Peter's Girls Boarding School in Elburgon, Molo, in my fourth year then to Brook Hill Academy before coming to England.
Currently, I am a student in my last year of A-Levels, studying English language and Literature, Psychology, Philosophy and Ethics at the King’s School (The Cathedral), Peterborough, UK.
When we moved to England so my mother could attend university, we applied to the school and I got in. It's free education here, a state school, so we don't pay.
What made you venture into film production and what motivated you to produce a film for the Unchosen Competition?
I have always loved watching films and was greatly fascinated by the innovative and creative ways in which films conveyed different ideas and perspectives. As I grew older, I began to understand films as a platform for reflection and a mirror of society.
My fascinations with film and theatre lead me to research the logistics behind its creation and through my involvement in drama in school, I realised that I felt more comfortable behind the scenes.
This triggered my interest in writing, where my first stage script was based on a young girl trapped in a traumatising chain of child-marriage traditions.
I gradually built up my confidence to start writing short film scripts earlier last year through guidance from people who had similar interests and experience in the industry.
In order to motivate myself to get better and practice, I signed up for a competition run by a charity organisation called Unchosen in 2013. Determined to submit, I got my friends involved to film with me and we filmed using my camcorder.
Unfortunately, due to (unforeseen) circumstances, we missed the deadline. I was very disappointed, as it was a project I really wanted to be involved in, but vowed to submit the following year.
A whole year went by and the competition came by, again. This time it involved established, successful film-makers such as Justin Chadwick, the director of The First Grader and The Long Walk to Freedom.
mobile.nation.co.ke/lifestyle/Low-budget-film-by-Kenyan-teen-wins-international-award/-/1950774/2486128/-/format/xhtml/-/91i168/-/index.html
