Bathday........... Literally speaking! Kibera Film School, A Lifestyle.

They say too much work and no play makes Jack a dull boy! So when an opportunity to play and have fun happened to avail itself we embraced it whole heartedly. In Kibera Film School, birthdays don't pass unnoticed because this is one of the rare opportunities that has an excuse to party tag attached on it and so we party in style. We always give the best birthday parties one will ever remember, or is it bath day?

Ssshh! It's not meant for everyones ear. So they all start by plotting against the party boy/girl...... in this case it's a boy! The chief schemers!

Everyone gathers around waiting for the chief guest who happens to be BIRTHDAY BOY. Those are evil smiles pasted on everyone's face. After reading this you will understand why I say EVIL!

"Oh! Really?" Yes Really! A birthday cake for you Mr. Brian. "I am too old for birthdays" Came the protest. But we still want you to have it. Please have your cake and eat it!

And the beautiful strawberry cake was  presented to Sir Brian.  Gripped with Emotions he could not hide his..... Was that a tear I saw? Surprises is our greatest weakness. He never expected that we knew His Bday,well shock on him! We at Kibera Film School embrace and learn people. Relationships is what we build  and invest in BEST.

And his cake he had. Presented to him from the deepest of our heart. Happy Birthday Brian..........So the crowd sang. "All these for me?" "Yes Brian. All that for you." When the deal is too good? I am not smiling.

The Mouth watering creamy strawberry cake. Anyone would die to get a bite. Wait I was robbed off. He gave me a small bite........... "Hey I want more!" I shall not be denied.

"Hurry up with the cutting dude" The eagerness spoke volumes. Dying to have a bite but Brian took his time. He seemed to have wanted his cake to himself. Bad Idea Brian! The folks wont let you.

"It's a taboo to cut cake with all your valuable, here let me keep for you safely until when we are done. other than the watch,what else do you have?" "My Ipod, my phone. I dont do wallets!" "Great! Here let me help you with them". And so he allowed himself to be lured blindly.

"Let me choose the biggest piece." "On what grounds? Give me a reason?" The cake has to go round,get it round. Anticipation. Everyone was salivating! Cant wait for my turn :).

Ohhh! Crude! The party had now began. It is official to get a bath on your bath day. Brian Wept. " I have been conned" You should have thought twice Brian!

"Oh! Remind me again how I allowed you to lead me to the slaughter. This is not fair. You can't do this. I will sue all of you"

"Give back our cake........ "  The deal was already sealed long before.
Hey B enjoy your mid afternoon bath you poor thing.

And everyone took turns to water him. Hope he grows taller after all these. Hey but be careful, what goes around comes around! KARMA.

Cheers! B. Today is your lucky day. You just won yourself a free bath. Hey guys,dont you have any pity left for this Kid????

Not yet. Just one more super drum and I will be satisfied :) Devilish grin.

Then B drenched. "Where will i get change of clothes guys? If it does not rain today where will you find water again? Remember global warming? Its real."

"Silence B.Silence. Hush now."

And from today henceforth you shall no longer be called Brian but B.

You better be careful what you do to me, coz it might turn around on you!

But she kept right on. I told her to stop again but still she could not listen and so............ I was upset

I am getting back at you guys. Brutally. Any one wants face me head to head? Pay back time. They all scampered to dryness.

I told you to watch out for KARMA. What goes around finally catches up with you. But what a great photo. When life hands you lemons,turn them into lime juices.

Bam! She was his first victim and he attacked mercilessly. Oh! no I am not yet done with you and you will pay the sins of all of them. She screams and there is no one to rescue her. SOS!

Poor her. No help came her way because everyone else chose to spectate...... Interesting turn of event.

DE-FEA-TED! He finally gave up! His arms stretched underneath the sweater. I CANT TAKE IT ANYMORE GUYS. Spare me. I will not shower for the next one month. A solemn vow he made. I will ensure you dont!

We are gravely sorry for everything. Really,we are sorry..............
Do you think she is honest? I don't. Check out that look, behind her mind "its only coz we ran out of water otherwise!"

That was a good break alright now get back to work.

Truce Man! Happy Birthday. May you live to be wiser!

I am going home, I am going home. I need to change into fresh clothes.
O boy! We sure worked on B. GO HOME B.






















They say life is in seasons and so we spend time in seasons too. There is a time for everything. A time to play,a time to plant, a time to sow, a time to reap.

Just like the seasons, Kibera Film School teaches how to be all rounded, a basic skill that we equip ourselves with from this institution that is one of a kind.
Different actions produce different results Any action is a cause set in motion and its effects builds in the past effect to move us in a definite direction.

Every direction leads us to an ultimate destination, A destination we prepare for now.


To support the great youth of the Kibera Film School, please visit our Global Giving Page

All in The Spirit Of Team Building At Kibera Film School

There are few jobs that don't require us to interact with colleagues in a team. But in this field it is essential. For the most part, we need to work cohesively with others to achieve the organizational and institutional goals. But how many of us can claim to be good teammates?

 

This was one of a kind team bulding meeting at hotsun foundation and Kibera film school chaired by Mercy Murugi the hotsun foundation trustee and the managing director of Kibera Film school.

The moment of searching for common purpose and direction.

A moment to create shared value and beliefs to achieve our mission.

















A moment to lead by example and show leadership,appropriate structures and style. A leader leads and that was the spirit.

 A moment for inner reflections and deep understanding for some of us. Understanding people and their phychological make up is a fundamental factor in contributing to a harmomious and productive team environment.

Strong teams develope machanisms that allow feedback to both be given without fear and be recieved
within the true same spirit in which it was intended. This helped create self awareness.

Good leaders understand the importance of maintaining high performance, morale and motivation in teams and they create conditions where performance, creativity,innovation flourish.













Such meetings that are held every once in a while keep us going. High performance teams often manage communications in many ways. Hail Hotsun Foundation! I wonder when the next session is going to be?  But will for sure keep you updated.

To support the great youth of the Kibera Film School, please visit our Global Giving Page

Last week In Kibera Film School.............. A blessing too!

 Like I had said before, Kibera Film School is the home of visitors. So many are inspire by what we do here but what they dont know is that we are also inspired by them. We had the honour of hosting one of the world's Best Selling Author and Blogger Seth Godin. We had an interactive moment with him and everyone got to ask him questions.
"what does it take to be writer?" asked one student.
"to pick up a pen and write" came the response from Seth. He explained that this basically meant that everyone was a writer. Kudos for sharing your secrets to success with us.

An assistant Trainer showing some of the work that we have done to the guests.
The guests from Acumen fund accompanied Seth to kibera Film School. Showcasing our materials is what we are proud of because we believe in ourselves. Hard work pays and we strive to do so.

No disturbance! A section of the guests in deep concentration while watching our projects. I have been able to understand that its only something interesting that can keep you glued to the screen and grab your entire attention. Yeaaah! Long Live Kibera Film School!

 A group of artists from Kawangware, a slum area in Nairobi paid us a courtesy call just to know more about Kibera Film School and the programmes we offer. We are spreading our nets further.












We could say we are proud of all of you our guests. Keep passing by when you get a chance and see the kind of amazing films we create from scratch. Kibera Film School HOME OF RAW TALENT!


 To support the great youth of the Kibera Film School, please visit our Global Giving Page

Hollywood Academy Delegation Meets Kibera Film School. WooH!

Kibera Film school was privileged to host a delegation of filmmakers from hollywood who came to Kenya for the Film Africa Workshops. Before they came to the school some of the students had the opportunity to attend their screening and the Q&A sessions at the silverbird cinema in prestige plaza Ngong road. During this time they were able to teach and also just show how the films were made and the audience would ask questions. They came with them the richness of hollywood and we actually felt like hollywood was in kenya.

The delegation included -:

 Alfre Woodard: 

Actress who has won almost 26 award in the film industry. She is known for films like A Family That Preys and Crooklyn a legendary film she stirred in 1994.

She first made her debut in this industry in 1974 and since then she is considered to be one of Americas most talented and one of the most successful actress.
Her visit to the film school really inspired many who really look up to her as a role model. Just having her watch the films we had made and actually giving back positive feedback overwhelmed us. Her personality too stood out. Our doors are always open for you and we look forward to seeing you again.

    Carol Littleton:

Carol Has been editing major hollywood features from as early as the 70's. She first stumbled into the industry as an assistant editor and since then she never left the editing room. She has been able to win an award with her editing. Her simplicity in editing is what takes it home. she knows how to hit the emotions of the viewer and that is key in editing. She has edited films such as Country song, Muncharian Candidate etc. We were glad to have her watch our pieces and actually give positive feed back. I think this was the breakthrough moment that the school needed! Really, Hope we meet again this time in hollywood :)

Ellen M. Harrington:

She is the director of Exhibitions, Special Events and International outreach for the Academy. During her 17yrs in this post, she has organized and designed the installation for over seventy exhibitions. A great thank you for her organizing all the events such as the one that saw the academy come alive in Kenya and mostly in Kibera. Thank you again.

John Bailey:

 One of the finest cinematographer and director in hollywood. He has been in the film industry since 1971 till present. The students in Kibera Film School loved him immidiatley because of his good nature and easy to interact. He is well known for sharing the skills he has acquired with the youth and is one of the mentors in the Kodak and UCLA. He is a member of the American Society of Cinematographers since 1985 and is also member of the jury in Venice Film Festival in 1987. Hope you come back and mentor us too

    Phil Alden Robinson:

A film director and a screenwriter. He has won a writers guild of America award and an oscar for the best screenplay adaptation.He was named the screenwriter of the year in 1990.He is currently the vice president of Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences. Inspiration and hope is what you brought with you in Kibera Film School and we are proud that you paid us a visit. Your appreciation of what we do here lays humbly beneath our hearts. And the dream continues............... All the writers here in the school are putting their thoughts together. Thank you for coming, It meant a lot for us.

  Stephanie Allain:

Has come along way. She began her carreer as a script reader in the industry and now she is one of Pioneers in the industry and now the president of Homegrown Pictures. She has been produced El Mariachi, Black Snake Moan among other films. Your success is indeed an inspirational story that gave the youth of Kibera Film School hope. Nothing is ever really lost if you work towards it. That was a lesson well learnt and we the Students of Kibera Film School HOPE that we get there too. Asante Sana!

 Wynn Thomas:

Started working in the theaters as a teenager. He became an assistant art director on such films as The Cotton Club, The Money Pit and Brighton Beach Memoirs. And has been the Art director in Breach, Analyze this, Get Smart etc just to name but a few.
He is said that he could turn anything into whatever that is needed. Just watching some of the sets he had designed was really cool. He spells success at what you do and that is exactly what we needed at this moment.You inspired us.

      Willie Burton:

The sound engineer. Two time oscar winner for sound. Is the first black to actually be accepted in the International Sound Technician Union making him one of the pioneers in his field. He has done sound for films such as the Shawshank Redemption, Which actually is an excellent film and Dream girls which also bagged him one of his Oscar award. He trained as an electronic technology and engineering which first him a job at the navy.

 
 Mercy Murugi, The director of Kibera Film School and a trustee of Hotsun Foundation together with Alfrie Woodard at the Hotsun foundation Premises.
This was a great moment for  everyone including our trustees who facilitated the whole event. Kudos and Thumbs up for all of you.

And it was time for a group Photo with everyone in the school and nobody wanted to miss out on this rare memorabilia. A chance that got us to meet Hollywood's finest. And so everyone grabbed a spot. Forever we shall cherish this moment its written in our hearts and minds too.











This was a good experience for the  film student and interns at the foundation. It is with deep gratitude that we want to thank the Guests for taking their time off the busy schedule just to be able to be there and share with us. Indeed we are humbled and we want you to come back again, Welcome and Karibu sana. And to the Trustees Thanks for giving us this rare opportunity. Thank you so much.


To support the great youth of the Kibera Film School, please visit our Global Giving Page

Working on the set of Guerilla Boy: Alice's, Wicky's and Vinny's experiences.

VINCENT ODUOR: "I worked as the set runner and third assistant director. I called the shots, arranged for the scenes and supervised other departments.
I learnt to distinguish between various assistant directors. For example, the second assistant director ensures that the cast gets on set in time. This director does the paper work and handles the crew’s schedule.
On the other hand, the third assistant director not only controls the background movement of a scene but also keeps the pace of the shooting time. In addition to this, the third assistant director directs the extras in a scene. As the right hand person of the first assistant director, he ensures that the cast is around for the next scene.
Working on the set of Guerrilla Boy taught me to relate the theories of filmmaking to the practical realities of the field. Due to the constructive criticism offered by the people I worked with, I strengthened my resolve to become a filmmaker."

ALICE MOTIERI: "I worked on stills and downloaded, copied and digitalized videos from the Red One hard drive.
Working on the set of Guerrilla Boy taught me valuable lessons on sound recording and working with the mixer. I also learnt how to write continuity notes as well as how to relate with other members of cast and crew.
I got the chance to integrate film theories into a real film set, and realized that in filmmaking, passion and risk-taking are crucial.
Filmmaking is not all glamour, though. Working in Nderi came with its own set of peculiar challenges, the first of which was cold biting weather. Also, we had a few hiccups with the transportation from Nairobi to Nderi. Other problems arose in the form of misunderstandings with other crew as to job description and duties, as well as in the form of missing or misplaced equipment.
However, I made valuable networks during the twenty one days spent at the set and realized that, without a doubt, film is the career for me.”
WYCLIFF MBOYA:

 “On the set of Guerrilla Boy, I worked with different types of lights and dealt with the setting and the pushing of the dolly. I got the chance to hobnob with some of the who’s who of the film industry. I came to realize that there are lots of people involved in the making of a successful film. The director cannot do without the grips people. The actors and actresses cannot do without the film crew. Everyone is interdependent.
From working on the set of this film, I sobered up from my romanticized ideals of the film industry. I woke up to the realization that film is not just what they show you on television; lots of sweat, tears and blood go into each successful production.”

To support the great youth of the Kibera Film School, please visit our Global Giving Page