Originally published in Sisters of the Screen: Women of Africa on Film Video and Television. Africa World Press, Trenton, NJ, 2000.
Interview held during the 15th FESPACO, February 1997, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.
Catherine, could you talk about yourself and how you came to be a producer?
I am a video and film producer in Kenya. I have always been interested in films dealing with women's and children's issues. As I am a woman, I feel that I am more conversant with those topics. I read the different scripts that come to me and if they interest me, and they are along those lines, I choose them.
There are not many films from Kenya and it has only been recently that a cinema tradition has emerged. Could you discuss filmmaking in Kenya and women's presence in this field?
There are not many women filmmakers, but there are a few of them, one of the women that I work with, who has produced a feature film, is Anne Mungai. The film Saikati won several awards during FESPACO 1993, and I feel that she is an authority in that field, and I am very happy to be working with her. We are working on her next feature, which will be called Saikati II. I am looking forward to it. In fact, we have already started. We have shot the first few scenes and we are continuing to look for the funding to continue. We have gotten a lot of goodwill, as well as equipment and lighting for free.
We are working with other production companies in Kenya. We have come together and are working as a team. We have the Kenya Film Producers Association and most of the association members have agreed to help us initially without having to ask for money up front. Of course, funding is important in our completing the project, and the lack of it has become a real problem. This is why you don't find women producers, because it is a very hard job going around raising money to make films.
We are determined and so far we have gotten a lot of goodwill from individuals, from different organizations, like the UNDP (the United Nations Development Program)—they have agreed to do the posters for us. We have some aerial shots and the AMREV has agreed to give its airplanes. So, what we need to do is to get enough money, though we have a little, to pay the actors and others, as well as the out-of-pocket expenses. It is a struggle but we are determined.
As you stated, there are not a lot of filmmakers in general nor women filmmakers or film producers in Kenya. Would you say that you are one of the few woman film producers? What role do you play in this field?
Yes, well, as I told you it is not an easy task. We have problems getting money. Another trend that you are finding is that, because filmmaking is very expensive, there are many people who are only working in video. However, we feel that film is a very effective way of reaching out to people. It is a very, very powerful way to reach the public and we do feel that it is important as well.
If women are trained in filmmaking and are able to do films about themselves, as well as the nation, and the country in general, it is an efficient way to portray the woman positively. I think we as women are in a position to fill that need and to be able to express it much better than perhaps men would. Although I must say, I am impressed with some of the men who have been interested in portraying the woman positively.
Do you think that there is a certain perspective that is particular to women in terms of film directing or cinema in general?
I think so. I think that a woman knows the needs of other women. They feel those needs. As women, we are exposed to the variety of experiences and problems that women go through. We are able to feel it, be it within our homes, or with the children. These experiences may be as victims of discrimination, or of not feeling completely free to do what one would like to do. So I think these issues undertaken by women in filmmaking may be presented much more practically and effectively.
You stated that you generally tend to gravitate towards scripts that focus on issues that relate to women. Could you talk about the scripts that you receive?
Right now, women-focused issues are what I am really interested in doing, because I feel that this is the area that is really lacking. Of course, it does not mean that these will be the only issues that I will address.
Could you talk about some of the specific themes of the scripts? I find that in the area of women and development, issues such as health, women's rights, and education have been important themes in films that attempt to raise the consciousness of women, as well as the general population regarding the issues that concern women.
Yes, Anne Mungai's last film Saikati is an example of how the focus on education is brought into the film to raise the importance of the education of girls. Saikati, the protagonist, had plans to graduate and become a flying doctor, after which she could go out to help in the community. The education for girls is one of the many issues that we are trying to raise, and films can play a role to encourage it. If girls are educated, they will be able to uplift their families. Women are very important in society: if you uplift a woman you are actually uplifting the whole family. You are also empowering the woman.
She is able to get a good job, she is able to handle higher positions within society and become influential in the country and become a good leader. We need women leaders; we need them in every field. I think we can do a good job and we have the capacity to succeed in whatever area we pursue. It is about time we encouraged our women to go out and do the things that have been stereotyped as men's jobs. I am sure that we can do them quite well.
You said earlier that you were encouraged by the portrayal of women in some films made by men. Based on the films that you have seen, and on your knowledge of African cinema, what is your general attitude about images of women in African cinema?
The image of African women has not been very positive. The woman has always been portrayed as a weakling or as a sex symbol or someone who just sits around the house, is dumb, and does not know what she is doing. We should try to get away from that, because the woman is able to do what the man can do. I feel that this is a challenge and this is something that we as women in filmmaking must do, and providing positive images of women is what I want to be involved in.
There was a merger between your film company and some others. Could you talk about the merger of the film production companies, how you came together, the goals and objectives of the company, and also some of the needs and interests that you address?
In Kenya, film production is not a very big industry as such. So you have people with their own little companies and everyone is trying to do everything themselves. This does not always work out very well. You are the producer, the director, the scriptwriter; you are running around, you are doing everything yourself. We have all gone through those problems and we have seen that we do need a force, a united and strong foundation, to get these things going.
We started by talking to a few people as well as with the KFP, the Kenya Film Producers Association. In that association, we identified different people that we could work with. Anne Mungai used to own a company known as Joyana. My company was called Amp-Sonic Ltd., and there was another company, Gone Fishing Productions, owned by Clive Haines. So we all joined forces so that we could work together as one. The name of the new company is Sambaza Productions. This is the only way to go, really, because we need to work together. And because of the lack of finances and other things, you know, when you are a group you can agree on certain ways to make things happen as opposed to struggling by yourself. So we have been working quite well.
In 1991 a PanAfrican organization of African women in the image industry was formed. Were you involved in this organization at the time when it was established?
My partner, Anne Mungai, is involved in it. This is my first time to come to FESPACO.
There have been regional associations that have been established as well. In Kenya, have you been involved in the East Africa regional association of this pan-African organization?
Yes, I have been assisting.
Could you talk a bit about some of what has been going on in the association?
Well, it is not that active as such. But we hope to get it going. Anne has been very busy and we are recruiting a lot of people. I can't say much about it for the moment.
What do you see as the importance of women in the cinema in general? The necessity of having women in your position as producer, as well as having women directors, scriptwriters, and in all areas of the industry?
The woman's position in society, I believe, is a position that is very, very important. If a woman is well represented, and is involved in what is happening in the film industry, I think that this would be a very good thing, and it is something that will add to the film industry. Because, as I said, if you uplift a woman, you uplift a nation—and the world, really. So I think that it is important that women get involved in this area.
