ROFFEKE at MV Fest

On 30th November, ROFFEKE was privileged to be a part of MV Fest, organized by Olamart Creatives. The venue was the beautiful and serene Oak Place Hotel and Conference Centre. The workshop, titled "ABCD of Screenwriting", was attended by actors, screenwriters, film students, models, a music video producer, an artist and a teacher. I used various short films and music videos that were submitted to ROFFEKE to illustrate the basics of screenwriting.

ANTAGONIST

"The antagonist (not the protagonist) must have the greatest willpower, which makes him or her the most powerful character in your story."
- Michael Tabb.

Screening: THIS IS JOE



The protagonist can be his or her own worst enemy.

SCREENING: RITA



BACKSTORY

One of the many things that Backstory helps a writer to do is identify conflict. "Conflict is the fundamental element of fiction, fundamental because...only trouble is interesting. It takes trouble to turn the great themes of life into a story..." - Janet Burroway.

Screening: ROCK IS NOT AN ATTITUDE



CONFLICT

Three types of conflict:
Man versus self (intrapersonal)

Man versus man (interpersonal)

Screening: ON THE FLOOR

On The Floor from Georges HH on Vimeo.

Screening: TAP



Man versus environment

Screening: WALL OF DEATH

Synopsis: "A meteorite flies to the earth and threatens to destroy an open air rock'n'roll party. Through the power of a "Wall Of Death" the festival visitors can save the party!"



DIALOGUE

"A good film script should be able to do completely without dialogue." - David Mamet

One participant wanted to know what the screenwriter's role was if no dialogue was used in a movie. I explained that the screenwriter is the one who writes a lot of what will appear on the screen.

Screening: THE SOUND OF ROAD



Screening: MEASURE OF A MAN



(Check out the interview with Measure of a Man director and actor here)

I ended by asking the participants: What are the ABCDs in RED OMEN?

Screening: RED OMEN

Synopsis: "Award winning Canadian singer songwriter Ed Roman along with animator extraordinaire Nelson Diaz from There Be Dragons Creative Media in NYC have created an exquisite animation to the title track of Ed Roman’s latest album Red Omen. The message is for awareness of Dyslexia."



(Read ROFFEKE Volunteer, Zafrica Hasaja's review of Red Omen, here)

We ended with a short discussion on the challenges and opportunities in the Kenyan film industry.

Goodbye Darling, I’m off to Fight

Review by: Luci Döll
Cast: Chantal Ughi, Andrew Robert Thomson and Anissa Meksen
Director: Simone Manetti
Writers: Alfredo Covelli, Simone Manetti
Synopsis: This documentary follows Chantal Ughi, an Italian woman, for 30 days, in her ambitious goal to win a World Title in Muay Thai.

Review:
“If you’re not loved as a child, love becomes pain, something else.” – Chantal Ughi

Chantal is an Italian woman, who has been a fashion model in Japan, an actress in Italy, and an underground singer in New York before deciding to reinvent her life again by moving to Thailand, to take up Muay Tahi, a form of hard martial art.

At the time of the beginning of the film, Chantal is trying to make her way back into the Muay Thai circuits. After 53 fights over 5 years of training, she lost her passion for the Martial Art. She loses a match, quits and returns to Italy. She decides to reignite her passion for Muay Thai, with a seemingly impossible goal. She plans be back in the ring in one month, in Thailand, in front of the Royal Family, to try to regain the world title.

The film opens like a tourism ad for Thailand, the shots are beautifully composed, with soaring cinematography, and voyeuristic close-ups. The scale is very human as we follow Chantal’s progress during the thirty days that she trains in a cabin in Chiang Mai.

Despite how much time and footage is spent on the training sequences, this is really a film about a girl’s relationship with her father. The documentary format allows for insights as to what each thinks of the other and their relationship. It also becomes clear that this relationship is what eventually colours Chantal’s perceptions on what love is and the role that violence in its definition. Her relationships with the German musician, the Thai fighter and even her decision to get into Muay Thai all begin to show a pattern.

In an anti-Hollywood move, there is no attempt to make Chantal sexy in this documentary: practical training clothes, no makeup, covered in sweat, stringy hair, perpetually hunched over as she trains. These shots of are juxtaposed against the pictures and found footage from her previous lives as a fashion model, actress and singer, where she is more acceptably beautiful. Perhaps it is this which makes Chantal difficult to identify with as a character, but as her mother says with heart-breaking honesty, “Chantal was quite unpleasant as a child.” There are no pretences in presenting Chantal as a flawless heroin, or anything other than what she is.

The director continues to break big movie laws in the pacing. If you’re used to Hollywood pacing, prepare to be disappointed. This documentary can be agonisingly slow, and at times painfully introverted. However, if you take her spiritual adviser’s advice to Chantal, “You need to persevere with what you’re doing… You need to improve your concentration,” you’ll find a gem of a film, a story that challenges you to reconsider what is important and whether the pursuit and achievement of big goals actually bring about happiness.

Overall Rating: ★★★☆☆ (Worth Watching)

ROFFEKE Screening: Sustainable Futures - Survivor Girls by Nicole Watson

I am so excited and honoured to screen the short documentary "Sustainable Futures: Survivor Girls" directed by Nicole Watson. Here is the link to the programme:

About the Speakers

Nicole Watson is originally from Vancouver, Canada and grew up in the small town of Castlegar B.C. to parents who both immigrated from the UK as children. She is now based in Los Angeles working in film and is interested in international stories and productions. She is the co-founder of the LA based production company 'Blak Dot Productions', and the Founder of the 'econic earth foundation' a 501c3 non profit focused on environmental and wildlife conservation around the world. Nicole speaks English, French and some Spanish and Thai.

Narissa Allibhai is a feminist, activist and creative who identifies as a modern Pan-Africanist. A Master’s graduate from the University of California, Berkeley, she now works for International Rivers leading their East Africa program. She has recently founded the #SaveLakeTurkana Movement and will be launching her documentary on the lake next month. Passionate about rights, nature, and positivity, Narissa is involved with several arts for social change and pan-Africanist movements. She blogs at peopleinthemargins.com and tweets from @NarissaAllibhai, AKA the “nature_pagan.” Her favourite activity is to meditate on rocks with beautiful views.

Wangari Kabiru is an Educationist specializing in Transformative Education & Education Design. “School-kids are powerful agents for any agenda and protectors - especially when they learn early. Introduce #green fingers now to schools.

Maryana Munyendo is the founder of Simba Safe Kenya.

Benedict Muyale is the founder of Green Sun Cities.

Alexander Nderitu was the first Kenyan to write a digital novel. Born on William Shakespeare's birthday, rock and rap music were the soundtrack to his life as he sought recognition as a writer. Since 2001, he has authored three e-books, six stage plays and three non-fiction papers. Some of his writings have been translated into Swedish, Japanese and Arabic. In 2014, his poem ‘Someone in Africa Loves You’ was picked to represent Kenyan literature at the Commonwealth Games in Scotland. He is currently the Deputy Secretary-General of PEN Kenya Centre and an arts promoter. Nderitu's works are available at www.AlexanderNderitu.com

Stella Ninah holds a Bachelor’s Degree in International Relations and Diplomacy with IT from Maseno University. She enjoys being part of nurturing startups and seeing them grow. She has worked with various Child Rights Advocacy NGOs in Kenya since this is her passion. Her life’s desire is not just to build a career in the field of Children’s Rights but to make a difference in the lives of the children she interacts with. She is the Kenya Program Manager for Art and Abolition.

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