The documentary A Small Act follows the story of a former sponsor child, Chris Mburu, who, having gained a law degree at Harvard and work at the United Nations, finds himself back in his childhood Kenyan village…
The 2011 Documentary Edge Festival is spending time in both Auckland (16 Feb – 6 March), at Event Cinemas Newmarket, Victoria Picture Palace (Devonport), and Academy Cinemas (CBD) – and Wellington (10 – 27 March), at the Angelika Reading Cinemas (Courtney Place), and Wellington City Gallery. The Opening Night Film is Alexandra Philippe’s ‘The People vs George Lucas’, and the Closing Night Film is Oliver Stone’s ‘South of the Border’. The Documentary Edge Awards Gala, celebrating the best works, will be held in Auckland on 24 Feb 2011.
Here, we review two of the films at the festival, both set in Africa.
‘A Small Act’
To borrow the well-worn image of a small drop of water sending ripples through a large pond, ‘A Small Act’ proves how it is always the little things that most profoundly change the course of history. The documentary follows the story of a former sponsor child, Chris Mburu, who, having gained a law degree at Harvard and work at the United Nations, finds himself back in his childhood Kenyan village, shouldering the responsibility of educating children, whose disadvantaged formative years mirror his own.
Threaded through this compelling narrative is Chris’s re-formed connection with his former sponsor, Hilde Back –a Swedish Holocaust survivor, who turns out to be a lot more humble than the golden goose that flourished in Chris’s childhood imagination. Despite her small stature, countenance – and wallet, Hilde, is very much a giant; an angel who has affected the lives of thousands, and whose immortality will live on through the college which has been named after her.
The relationship between the pair is deep; both have had traumatic upbringings; both have survived with not only their lives, but also an unyielding hope that humanity can indeed be fixed. Chris knows for a fact that “education is a life and death matter”, and that the lack of it leads to ignorance, poverty, and political conflict. The latter tragedy is caught first-hand in the documentary, having been filmed during the political violence that occurred in Kenya following the 2007 presidential elections. Chris’s own extended family become involved, and the whole situation merely hardens his resolve to educate as many children as he possibly can.
As for ‘An African Election’, ‘A Small Act’ shows the almost god-like power politics has in determining daily African life – whether it is through affairs of the state, or merely determining who will, and won’t get an educational scholarship at the Mukubu primary school. Life is tough for these children, and Chris, in his role as a UN human rights officer seems to have the toughest job in the world – effectively stopping short the future of many of his top students, due to the limited fund he manages.
‘A Small Act’ is a film about how ‘the small’ always affects the greater picture in ways that can’t be predicted or contained. Despite the heavy content of the documentary, its final moments are rosy-tinted, with a fourth-wall-breaking twist that will melt your heart a little bit…and hopefully compel you to go and sponsor a child or two.
‘An African Election’
In 1957, the West African nation of Ghana was the first in the sub-continent to gain independence from colonial rule. It was a historical turning point for the country – and for Africa as a whole, though it has been no easy ride along the way. The last 50 years have been fraught with various convoluted political manoeuvres, including five military coups and accompanied military regimes; the Ghanaian democratic elections of 2008 were to be the second turning point for this politically influential country.
“An African Election”, directed by Jarreth Merz, follows this battle of power-balancing and intrigue, providing an insightful, yet raw, look into the political machinery involved in creating a nation desperate to find its feet in the world. The documentary is filmed in a very impartial manner; there is no narration, or manipulative editing, allowing the events, and people involved to speak for themselves as the election plays itself out.
There is an air of excitement from the very beginning of the film; everyone involved, especially the two parties vying for power (i.e., the National Democratic Congress (NDC), and the incumbent New Patriotic Party (NPP)), are on their feet and in the streets, promising, and spinning, and most definitely lying their way to the ballot boxes. Jerry Rawlings (pictured), ex-coup military ringleader, and ex-president of Ghana, is a powerful force, playing spokesperson for the NDC, inciting his followers on toward democratic change. He is a tortured character, and his colours really start to show after the oh-so-predictable allegations of vote-rigging begin to fly. His thinly veiled allusions to violence, with his mantra of “protect(ing) your ballot boxes like you would your mother”, highlight the way such elections can break down into off-the-wall anarchy.
“Democracy is as strong or weak as its participants choose to make it”, and in many ways it is the citizens who are the stars of this election (and documentary). The people of Ghana have everything to gain and lose through the process, a fact that we in the apathetic West have long forgotten. The exuberant dancing, music, and rallies, vividly portrayed in “An African Election” – as well as the random bursts of violence, attest to this desperation. One interviewee states that “without change, democracy is meaningless”, and one hopes and prays that the relatively successful 2008 election documented here will instil the change required for Ghana to become the proud nation it should be.
Documentary Edge Festival – 2011 – Auckland – Wellington. www.documentaryedge.org.nz
Written by Theo Sangster, 30 January 2011.
Leave a Reply