ASHA

In an era when violence is met increasingly by violence by State and non-State actors alike, and where ordinary people are most often the casualties, ASHA is the story of a woman who offers a path out of this cycle. At the heart of ASHA is an invitation to conciliation.

On April 4th 2014, in Nairobi, Kenya, police indiscriminately rounded up people living in a Somali area including Kenyan Muslims. Over 4000 people were detained in a sports stadium for days and months, without formal arrest or recourse. The reason for the roundup was initially stated to be a search for terrorists, but with increasing outcries by civil rights groups and others, this reason was modified to say that police were searching for illegal immigrants. Filmed in Nairobi, Kenya in 2014, and inspired by the events above, ASHA is about a house-maid who is stopped by police simply because she has “the wrong name”. In appealing to a shared history rather than situating herself in opposition to the policeman, Asha creates a space for reflection and dialog, opening up a possibility of breaking out of the cycle of rote oppression and violence.
 

SCREENING: Crowley Theater - THURS 7/14 - 2:30 PM

Short
10m
Kenya

Meena Nanji
is an award-winning filmmaker who has produced, written and directed independent documentaries, experimental videos and recently short narratives. Her first narrative short Here and Away won the Stellar Narrative Prize at the Black Maria Film/Video Festival 2013 and the Best Experimental Narrative Short Award at the Oaxaca FilmFest 2012. Her first feature documentary, View From A Grain of Sand, about the last 30 years of women’s rights in Afghanistan, won several awards at international film festivals and was broadcast on television internationally. Meena is a recipient of several prestigious grants, including the Rockefeller Foundation Media Arts Fellowship, National Endowment of the Arts, Center for Asian American Media, the Paul Robeson Fund, Pacific Pioneer Fund, Women in Film Foundation and Durfee Foundation. 

She was a Film Independent/Project Involve Fellow 2012-13 and a Rockefeller Bellagio Foundation Fellow 2014.

CREDITS

A PRODUCTION BY ECESIS FILMS INC
IN COLLOBORATION WITH ODIOS PRODUCTIONS

PRODUCTION
DIRECTOR/PRODUCER: MEENA NANJI
PRODUCER: TITUS MAINA
PRODUCTION MANAGER: RONALD MACKIO
ASSISTANT PRODUCTION MANAGER: CAROLINE MBOI

CAMERA: KING MURIUKI
CAMERA ASSISTANT: ANTONY MUTISO
B CAMERA OPERATOR: MOSES KABUURA
ADDITIONAL CAMERA: CHARLES KURIA
ADDITIONAL B-ROLL SOLOMON E. OKRUT
SOUND RECORDIST: BENSON WANGILA

COSTUME AND PROPS MANAGER: ZELLY KANYI

SET DECORATOR: NIKETA FAZAL

POST-PRODUCTION

EDITORS: CONNOR HURLEY/BOB BROOKS
ORIGINAL MUSIC SCORE: VIVEK MADDALA

SOUND DESIGNER: NATHAN RUYLE
ADDITIONAL SOUND DESIGN: BOB BROOKS

AUDIO POST-PRODUCTION SERVICES: THISISSOUND.COM
SOUND EDITOR/FOLEY ARTIST: GERRY MONTEJO
RE-RECORDING MIXERS: NATHAN RUYLE/AARON BARTSCHT

DIGITAL COLORIST : CORY BERENDZEN
VISUAL EFFECTS ARTIST: TUCKER CAPPS
ADDITIONAL EFFECTS: KING MURIUKI

CAST
ASHA: MŨMBI KAIGWA
POLICEMAN: KENNEDY LUYALI
ASHA’S NEIGHBOR: CAROLINE MBOI
POLICEMAN AS A BOY: CLIFF WAFULA

BOY’S FATHER: MUTUNGI KING’OO
BOY’S MOTHER: HELLEN SARAH NABWIRE

BRITISH COLONIAL OFFICER: ROSS FRANKS
HOME GUARD 1: COLLINS KOYO
HOME GUARD 2: BENSON WANGILA

RADIO NEWSCASTERS: OWISO ODERA/SARAH MIRZA

ARCHIVAL FOOTAGE COURTESY OF PAWA INITIATIVE, KENYA

FUNDED IN PART BY A GRANT FROM THE SANTA MONICA CULTURAL DEPARTMENT