A local documentary Unbroken Spirit and a short film titled The Ground have made it to the final in the Focus On Ability Awards.
The documentary was produced by Phillip Kuipa Phiri who also took the director role in The Ground movie produced by Faith Msole. The two productions stand a chance to win $5 000 (about K8.8 million) in their respective categories.
The Unbroken Spirit is running for the Best Documentary International category while The Ground is in line for the Best Short Film International category. The two productions will be screened during a film festival in Australia which is curated by Nova Employer.
The Unbroken Spirit is an activism and advocacy narrative which is focusing on the life of a lady with albinism, Mirriam Msiska, who works with the Malawi Police Service.
Speaking in an interview on Tuesday, Phiri said most of the killings of people with albinism take place during election time and the documentary is meant to highlight their successes to prevent the escalation of the attacks.
“We are telling a story so that people should stop seeing people with albinism as victims or prey, rather as human beings who are contributing greatly to the development of our nation,” he said.
The documentary is the second one from Phiri after his first production in 2020 which also focused on the life of another person with albinism Overstone Kondowe.
He said: “My inspiration is twofold. I have a desire to see that the killings of people with albinism come to an end and the other is my zeal to help in preventing criminality.”
On her part, Msiska said she hopes the platform will send out a message to other people with different disabilities to stop looking down upon themselves to unleash the potential within them.
“People are born different, but all that one needs is to have courage and self-belief. I was once in space like that but I fought hard to eliminate all my limitations,” she said.
