Former Mau Mau freedom fighter Kimani N'gan'ga Maruge was 84 when he first went to school. Now, a new film celebrates his campaign to raise the profile of primary education in Kenya
The venue for the film's premiere was a tent erected over the hard-packed earth of the school playground. Instead of a red carpet, there was a dusty green tarpaulin, and the white plastic chairs were a little unsteady. Two classrooms had temporary screens set up, with the rough-hewn wooden desks piled up outside, under a tree.
Never can an audience have been so riveted. For the children of the village of Kisames, in the Ngong Hills, an hour's drive south of Nairobi, the capital, this was the first sight of a screen. "Who has seen a movie before?" asked Justin Chadwick, the director, of the 200 or so youngsters. Not one hand went up. Though they were newcomers to cinema,...
The venue for the film's premiere was a tent erected over the hard-packed earth of the school playground. Instead of a red carpet, there was a dusty green tarpaulin, and the white plastic chairs were a little unsteady. Two classrooms had temporary screens set up, with the rough-hewn wooden desks piled up outside, under a tree.
Never can an audience have been so riveted. For the children of the village of Kisames, in the Ngong Hills, an hour's drive south of Nairobi, the capital, this was the first sight of a screen. "Who has seen a movie before?" asked Justin Chadwick, the director, of the 200 or so youngsters. Not one hand went up. Though they were newcomers to cinema,...
- 6/19/2011
- by Tracy McVeigh
- The Guardian - Film News
Inspiring and heart-warming are words that will easily be pegged to the description of The First Grader. The story of an 84 year old Kenyan man enrolling in primary school is, after all, the sort of feel-good thing you expect to hear after all the bad news has been dispensed with, the sort of story that puts a smile on your face and helps you forget about all that terribly depressing stuff until the next news bulletin.
With a solid performance from Oliver Litondo, a former TV news anchor, playing Kimani Maruge, the illiterate old man on a quest for education; an earnest performance from Naomie Harris as Teacher Jane, ardent champion of Maruge’s cause; and a school full of real Kenyan pupils playing themselves (special kudos to little Agnes Simaloi and Kamau Mbaya) there’s a lot to smile and cheer about in The First Grader.
The official blurb reads:
In a small,...
With a solid performance from Oliver Litondo, a former TV news anchor, playing Kimani Maruge, the illiterate old man on a quest for education; an earnest performance from Naomie Harris as Teacher Jane, ardent champion of Maruge’s cause; and a school full of real Kenyan pupils playing themselves (special kudos to little Agnes Simaloi and Kamau Mbaya) there’s a lot to smile and cheer about in The First Grader.
The official blurb reads:
In a small,...
- 10/27/2010
- by MsWOO
- ShadowAndAct
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