Film-maker seeks link to visionary leadership

As for film vocabulary, Soul Boy engages the senses and even excites, especially coming from a quiet region that has not released a serious full length feature since Wanjiru Kinyanjui’s comical, Battle of the Sacred Tree.

When the invite came through, I wasn’t enthusiastic about the film.

I have watched many set in slums that annoyingly kill the game before the wow moment. I could have been wrong in judgment.

This piece, starring two children offered a surprisingly sweet twist.

There are some usual moments at the beginning.

Children, maybe hardened by the harsh life, speak and behave like old men, but that soon ends.

There are usual stereotypes — or is it cliché ? — about slum life, but that does not kill the story.

Grim reality

As the credits rolled up, a feel of serendipity flashed though my body.

Finally, here is a film shot in the heart of Nairobi that brings out the sheer contradictions of life plus layers of the obvious over the deep spiritual sense that is often ignored in most stories that revolve around seedy spaces and the underdogs.

And it is not one of the clichés or stereotypical slum stories of frailty and helplessness.

Soul Boy was directed by newcomer Hawa Essumani with the help of German director Tom Tykwer, who is also the producer with generous support from several German agencies including Goethe Institut of Nairobi.

It dramatises the grim reality of a society in need of a rescue operation; a society so dazzled by its own forgetfulness and selfish decision that it becomes hard to keep walking on.

Abi, a 14-year-old boy, is facing the ugly throes of life in Kibera, one of the largest slums that Nairobi’s disparity has created.

His drunken father lies lifeless inside their squeezed room, convinced that he has lost his soul.

He is also suffering a major hangover after an evening of carousal.

Abi’s determined journey to rescue his fading father takes him to Nyawawa, a mythical spiritual figure believed to have the power to lead through human weaknesses.

In most traditional African setting, Nyawawa is the oracle: an all-knowing spiritual being believed to represent god in the world who lived in a holy shrine.

This is a step into Africa’s rich cultural heritage that seems to suggest a return to traditional knowledge for answers, whether it is by default or it is a plan is not clear.

After some pre-ritual consultations, Abi reports his father’s state to Nyawawa — played by the gifted Kresteen Savane.

When Nyawawa releases her seven challenging prescriptions, Abi doesn’t argue.

Metaphorically, the story takes one into a land where the older generation of would-be leader has hit a blackout, lost their senses and needs a fresh impetus from the younger generation if things must continue.

But serious questions are also raised in the process.

What about the memory whose custodian is the older generation of leadership or is the story suggesting a need to erase some of the bitter memories for situations to be salvaged?

Serious conversation

Looking at the fresh-faced father, after the sacrifices by the son as instructed by the oracle, it is clear what the story written by Billy Kahora is rooting for: a revolution that sweeps clean the bad memories and philosophies that the older generation symbolises.

It is fiction, but certainly not a far-fetched reality.

Africa is littered with old-school leadership that has created a labyrinth of sins.

This needs to usher in new thinking for the continent to grow.

Disparities, economic or otherwise, in this fictional society, are clear too.

When Abi sneaks into an unfamiliar “white” home is good, apparently easy and tasty.

But there is not much to be happy about, at least going by the child and father who are in a rat race.

Wowed by the wealth that this up-market family enjoys, Abi asks the father of the house whether he is happy.

The answer is incredible. “I don’t think so…” says the man.

The saving Abila act brings together the two sides, raising questions on the place of diversity in this kind of a community.

Told in continuous motion and a variety of colourful moments — inside a dimly lit shanty even symbolic silhouette of Nyawawa — Soul Boy smells of a fresh contribution to a serious conversation and is an indicator where Kenyan filmmaking might be headed: co-productions and work-shopping, especially with more expert film-makers to uplift the standards.

More experimental

The ‘70s and ‘80s were dominated by foreign films with few Kenyan releases hitting the screens then.

With commercial innovation and cheaper technology, Nairobi has watched many low quality films as greenhorns try their luck.

Without good training institutions, Kenyan does not have many skilful film-makers.

With crowds of younger and experimental enthusiasts joining the industry, plus more collaborations with the rest of the world, skills transfer is likely, something that could easily enrich production standards.