Philippa Ndisi-Herrmann, a photographer and filmmaker working in her hometown, Nairobi, is our latest guest for our series where we ask photographers to pick their favorite shots from their own portfolio . She was born in Bonn, Germany, in 1985 with German and Kenyan parents. In April 2011, The Sundance Institute exhibited a selection of her work at MoCADA (Museum of Contemporary African Diasporan Art) in New York City. Philippa has recently begun a new documentary project, “We Want Development,” and is working towards her first feature film, “Two Princes.” First up she explains her approach to photography:
My favorite photographs N°3: Philippa Ndisi-Herrmann
May 23, 2012 By Leave a Comment
The loneliness of the Kenyan long distance runner
May 23, 2012 By 5 Comments
Xan Rice, the West Africa correspondent for Financial Times, has a piece in the most recent issue of The New Yorker (unfortunately you need a subscription) about the sensational, but short, career of the late Kenyan marathon runner, Samuel Wanjiru. The article tells of Wanjiru’s sensational career as a distance runner, his tragically scandalous personal life, and the uncertain circumstances of his death. For those who may not know, on May 15, 2011 Wanjiru fell from a balcony at his home in Nyahururu, Kenya following a dispute with his first wife (who had allegedly come home to find him in bed with another woman) and died. He was 24 years old.
‘We found love in a hopeless place’
May 9, 2012 By 32 Comments
The central point of this song and music video by violinist Lindsey Stirling (the singer is one Alisha Popat) begins with an invocation of a familiar trope: Africa is a hopeless place. But African love springs eternal. So much so that it has the ability to save and teach privileged people from the west, who arrive with fancy hopes of ‘saving’ picturesque Africans. Hell, I’m sure you could even save the elephants if you spent long enough prancing around them playing the violin and the elephants somehow managed to resist the temptation to grind you into the dust with their massive feet (note to American celebrities). And people love this kind of thing. By late last night, this video had nearly half a million views since it was first posted on Youtube on Monday, May 7.
Patricia Asero Ochieng’s argument
May 2, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Remember “Silence = Death”? There’s more. Withholding = Death. Withholding necessary funds. Withholding lifesaving medications. Withholding life. In Nairobi last week, Patricia Asero Ochieng, Lucy Ghati, and Rose Kaberia joined Maureen and Anyango and many others to raise a ruckus about the trickle of Pepfar funding for people in Kenya living with AIDS. In particular, they were raising their voices, placards and fists over $500 million dollars allocated but not yet spent for antiretroviral medications. That’s a lot of money, drugs, and lost lives. And of course all the major agencies blame all the other major agencies. US officials argue it’s Kenyan ministerial inefficiencies. Kenyan officials take one of two lines: it’s US processes, or, it’s all fine and you’re overreacting. [Read more...]
The ‘African Men–Hollywood stereotypes’ video, positive news and ‘Brand Africa’
April 26, 2012 By 21 Comments
As much as I tried, I can’t seem to like the new video by San Francisco-based NGO Mama Hope. Four young Kenyans sit on a bench talking through the worst stereotypical depictions of African men in Hollywood movies. We get to see these clips (which don’t not tell us much; the clips don’t make sense in the way they’re used here.) Watch it above. The surprising (!) catch is that our guys on the bench are all middle class, play rugby and are on Facebook. The video is by the same people who made ‘Alex Presents: Commando’ (that was cool just as a piece of popular culture) and the more earnest “Call Me Hope” (read Neelika’s generous critique). But this latest instalment – ‘African Men. Hollywood Stereotypes’ – isn’t funny (except for the line about a shirtless Matthew McConaughey), feels forced, and won’t get anything like as many hits. There are wider issues to think about too. [Read more...]
The Strategic Kinship of Uhuru Kenyatta and William Ruto
April 24, 2012 By 3 Comments
Guest post by Kweli
We survived Kenyatta / We survived Moi / We might survive Kibaki / Will we survive ourselves? (Anonymous)
The Kenyan politicians Uhuru Kenyatta and William Ruto have never been closer. Although they are facing charges at the International Criminal Court (ICC), the two have been busy convening prayer-cum-political rallies across the country in their campaign for the presidency. At almost every rally Uhuru and Ruto have knelt on the dais, been anointed with oil and prayed for, and they’ve delivered campaign speeches that double as sermons about their persecution and martyrdom at the hands of the ICC. [Read more...]
In Praise of Jeffrey Gettleman’s Pulitzer
April 22, 2012 By 9 Comments
We couldn’t let the week pass without celebrating one of its more significant events: Jeffrey Gettleman, East Africa correspondent for The New York Times (yes, only in Africa can journalists cover territories so vast) was awarded a Pulitzer Prize–valued at $10,000–for “his vivid reports, often at personal peril, on famine and conflict in East Africa.” Floppy of hair, steely of jaw, noble of brow and almost invariably open of shirt, The Gettleman seems to have mustered his Pulitzer mainly by charming the Jury into submission with his carefully cultivated aura of old-world journalistic romance. The macho Gettleman thrusts himself into the torrid zone and must be decorated with all kinds of gongs and baubles. What did we expect? This is the Pulitzers after all. [Read more...]
19th New York African Film Festival: “The Education of Auma Obama”
April 13, 2012 By 2 Comments
Republican Party propaganda wants to paint President Barack Obama’s Kenyan family as alien to America. In this propaganda Kenyans are reduced to anti-American zealots. The propaganda especially play up refer to his father Barack Hussein Obama Snr’s supposed “anti-colonial” and left-wing biases. (What is conveniently forgotten is that Obama Snr. is a product of elite American education–he studied economics at Harvard.) Yet the strongest impression one gets from the Obama family in director Branwen Okpako’s beautiful, and substantive documentary of Obama’s half sister, Auma Obama, is how familiar and American (including some of the values Republicans proffer of hard work and guile), the Obamas are. At the same time it is clear that Obama’s strengths–his intellectual sharpness, charisma and drive, can be traced to this branch of his family. These qualities seem present especially in Obama’s father and sister Auma. (Barack and Auma Obama’s grandfather Hussein Onyango, a colonial cook, freedom fighter and oral historian, also emerges as a key influence.)
Coke and cynicism
April 10, 2012 By 4 Comments
I won’t bother to unpack this commercial, but this is exhibit A for the case against uncritical boosterism and identity politics. Coca Cola Kenya hijacks “the Africa is booming” discourse to sell more soft drinks. Here’s their cynical sales pitch: [Read more...]
Film: The talented Tajdin sisters
April 3, 2012 By 3 Comments
Filmmaker Amirah Tajdin and her producer sister Wafa Tajdin are currently working on their first feature, titled “Walls of Leila,” and are running a Kickstarter campaign to help launch their production. For two young, clearly talented filmmakers, this is a film project worth backing. You can visit their kickstarter page here. The film is described as “… a love story set in Cape Town South Africa that chronicles the life of Leila, a young Cape Malay girl who falls in love with an American boy, Derek, who happens to be black. When the intricacies and prejudices of race and religion (which are still very prominent in postcolonial Cape Town) throw Leila off balance, she finds herself forced to make difficult decisions as well as questioning her own degree of prejudice. She is ultimately caught between breaking the hearts of her family and/or her lover.” The trailer reminds me a bit of what Andrew Dosunmu visually achieved with “Restless City”:
