Training Kenya’s future camera crews

Nrb Bus shifted from Alchemist to General Mathenge Lane recently. PHOTO | MARGARETTA WA GACHERU | NMG

What you need to know:

  • It will be at the Nrb Bus that Vicenzo will run a 12-part series of workshops (one every month) featuring professional photographers like Georgina Goodwin and others.
  • Also part of the programme that CVP is running with Canon are 40 open labs which will be held every week at the Alchemist right before their regular feature film.

Everybody is an amateur photographer or videographer these days. That is, everyone with a smart phone thinks they are.

But if someone aspires to become more than an amateur, the best place to go is to the Nrb double decker bus on General Mathenge Lane next Monday for details.

That is where the Nrb Bus Collective and Cultural Video Production (CVP) have teamed up with Canon Central and North Africa (CCNA) to run a whole series of workshops and skills training labs to share both expertise and the latest imaging equipment with young Kenyans.

If it sounds too good to be true, it’s not according to Italian media man, Dr Vicenzo Cavallo who is both the founder of CVP and filmmaker who produced and directed the award-winning feature film, WAZI? FM in 2014, working with an all-Kenyan cast (including the likes of Paul Ogola of ‘Sense8’ and Joseph Wairimu of ‘Nairobi Half-Life’) and scripted by JC Niala.

Vicenzo is also the man behind the Nrb Bus which became a popular cultural space at The Alchemist Bar in Westlands up until he moved his fully-refurbished 1969 double decker London bus over to General Mathenge Lane several months ago.

It will be at the Nrb Bus that Vicenzo will run a 12-part series of workshops (one every month) featuring professional photographers like Georgina Goodwin and others.

Also part of the programme that CVP is running with Canon are 40 open labs which will be held every week at the Alchemist right before their regular feature film.

In addition CVP and Canon will be conducting open labs all around the country as Vicenzo’s mini-van will take professionals and Canon equipment to secure sites to share with would-be photographers and videographers all the way from Mombasa to Kisumu and towns in between.

The objective of the programme, according to Roman Troedhandl, the CCNA Managing Director is “to promote a reputable imaging and film industry in Kenya.”

Mr Troedhandl added that “Canon is proud to support the training of the next generation of [Kenyan] talents who will establish and grow the film and photography sectors.”

The first segment of the Canon – CVF programme will run from May 13 to May 20. To find out further details on how to get involved with the training, just check out the Nrb Bus’s Facebook page. Otherwise, there will be lots to learn very Tuesday evening during the Open Labs at The Alchemist.

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Note: The results are not exact but very close to the actual.