Malawi’s filmmaker cherishes Kenyan trip

Shemu Joyah, whose movie The Last Fishing Boat recently premiered at the Kenya International Film Festival, has described his adventure as a worthwhile pool for feedback.

The movie, to be premiered in Malawi this weekend, starting with Blantyre on Friday at the Hotel Victoria and the Bingu International Conference Centre during the Bwalo La Aluso Awards in Lilongwe on Sunday, was shown in Nairobi early this month.

“The trip to Kenya was worthwhile. First of all, it gave me the first clear indication of how the audience would receive the film. Therefore, seeing an independent audience react positively to the film was very reassuring to me as a filmmaker,” said Joyah in an interview.

“The people really liked the film and after the screening, there was a lot of debate on the social issues the film had brought across. This was very important to me because I had put these issues in the film in order to stimulate debate on them,” he added.

However, Joyah failed to travel for the screening of his film at the Verona African Film Festival from 16 to 25 November in Verona, Italy.

His first film, Seasons of a Life, was also screened at these festivals and won the Special Schools Prize in Verona in 2009.