Lola Kenya Screen is an annual international audiovisual media movement that seeks to place production tools in the hands of children and youth for the advancement of literacy, gender equity, self expression, and democracy in their world. It was founded in October 2005 as an annual international film festival, production workshop and audiovisual media platform to empower children and youth with life skills.
The 4th Lola Kenya Screen audiovisual media initiative for children and youth in eastern Africa (10 to 15 August 2009) has on the Day of the African Child (16 June2009) announced the line up of the films to be showcased. It received 315 films in 33 languages from 50 nations. 77 films were selected, including A crack in the wall, OYO’s production. A crack in the wall will compete in the category 14 plus, catering for youth aged 14 onwards. 11 films from the USA, Norway, South Africa, Kenya, Zimbabwe, Taiwan and Spain will compete with OYO’s film.
OYO’s team was delighted to learn the news. ‘it is a great opportunity for OYO’, says Philippe Talavera, director, ‘and the Lola Kenya screen festival is the perfect festival for us since it targets the age group we are working for. We hope that young people in Kenya will learn from the work we did and enjoy the video.’
‘A crack in the wall deals with the issue of rape. On the 18th of September 2006, Susan Njikata (Loide Imasa), a student at the University of Namibia, goes to club X’tazy with her friend, Caroline (Grace Swartbooi), Caroline’s boyfriend, Collin (Ebenezer !Naruseb) and his friends Paul (Barnabas Ochurub), Ben (Bergo van Wyk) and Dave (Mathew Murumbua). But the evening turns into a nightmare, and in the early hours of the 19th of September, she is brutally gang-raped. Or, is she making up a story to get access to medication after having engaged in unprotected sexual intercourse with two men and maybe even to justify failing her second year to her parents? From the Woman and Child Protection Unit to the Court, those involved in the case will try to understand what happened to Susan that night.
‘The film is slow’, adds Talavera, ‘and tries and looks in details at what happened to Susan, what she went through that night and what she is going through at the court. We’ve been criticized sometimes and told we should have made it more dynamic. However rape and rape court cases are complex issues and we felt we should take it slowly to enable audiences, even less literate audiences, to understand the issues at hand.’
OYO is proud of this achievement and wishes to thank the Lola Kenya Screen festival jury for considering A crack in the wall favorably.
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