Burundi Film Center
A production blog about the creation of the first Burundi Film Centre and the wonderful and surprising experiences of producing the first series of films!
Coup de projecteur sur le Burundi
5 courts métrages au cœur de l’Afrique
Le Burundi Film Center est un projet de développement média créé à l’initiative de 3 cinéastes canadiens. Le projet a été lancé au Burundi au cours de l’été 2007. Sans aide financière extérieure, avec leur matériel et quelques amis débrouillards, ils ont formé, aux rudiments de la production cinématographique, 36 étudiants âgés de 18 à 25 ans. Il en résulte 5 courts métrages de fiction présentés dans le cadre du 24ème Pan-Africa International. Cette présentation est organisée en collaboration avec Citizen Shift, la plate-forme multi-média citoyenne de l’Office National du Film du Canada.
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ReelWorld Film Festival and the NFB present:
Toronto Premiere
of
BFC: Five Short Films
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When: FRIDAY, April 4, 2008 – 7:30PM
Where: 150 John Street (NFB Mediatheque)
Who: Produced by the Burundi Film Center
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Toronto audiences will have their first chance to see the BFC films on Friday, April 4, 2008 at the ReelWorld Film Festival. The screening is in participation with the National Film Board of Canada and will feature a Q&A with BFC co-founder Christopher Redmond. Show begins at 7:30pm at the NFB Mediatheque, 150 John Street (Osgoode subway station).
Backgrounder:
Burundi, located just south of Rwanda, is a nation emerging from a war-time crisis and entering a new era of cultural understanding, tolerance and education. The absence of a developed media has crippled the nation’s ability to operate as a proper democracy and exposed the need for professional journalism and artistic expression through audio-visual storytelling. The Burundi Film Center is a unique opportunity for Burundian citizens to learn essential 21st century mass communication skills from Canadian filmmakers and documentarians, while engaging those same media experts in African issues.
A long-term partnership with Canadian media professionals and students are integral to this realization by sharing their knowledge, passion and expertise with the future generation of Africa’s burgeoning media. Building on the Rwanda Initiative’s successful model, the BFC will further the nation’s capacity to think critically about domestic issues and empower a new generation to evoke social change through film and video.
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CitizenShift invites you to the Montreal Premiere for the FIRST FIVE FILMS from the Burundi Film Center (BFC).
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When: SATURDAY, December 1st 7PM
(Doors open at 6PM)
Where: NFB CineRobotheque
1564 St-Denis Street (Métro Berri-UQAM)
Who: Produced by the Burundi Film Center
featuring a Q&A with co-founder Christopher Redmond
and instructors Sabrina Guerrieri and Bridget Farr
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Admission: $5 - All proceeds in benefit of the BFC
Backgrounder
The Burundi Film Center (BFC) is a media development projected launched by three Canadian filmmakers in the little-known East African nation of Burundi. With no outside funding, their own equipment and some resourceful friends, the Canadians (two from Ottawa, one from Montreal) were able to train 36 students, aged 18-25, the basics of film production and produce five short dramatic films. Already wooing audiences around East Africa, the films now come to Montreal for the first time.
Overview
Burundi, located just south of Rwanda, is a nation emerging from a war-time crisis and entering a new era of cultural understanding, tolerance and education. The absence of a developed media has crippled the nation’s ability to operate as a proper democracy and exposed the need for professional journalism and artistic expression through audio-visual storytelling. The Burundi Film Center is a unique opportunity for Burundian citizens to learn essential 21st century mass communication skills from Canadian filmmakers and documentarians, while engaging those same media experts in African issues.
A long-term partnership with Canadian media professionals and students are integral to this realization by sharing their knowledge, passion and expertise with the future generation of Africa’s burgeoning media. Building on the Rwanda Initiative’s successful model, the BFC will further the nation’s capacity to think critically about domestic issues and empower a new generation to evoke social change through film and video.
The Burundi Film Center aims to share unique stories with a universal appeal to global audiences and
INSPIRE. EDUCATE. ENTERTAIN.
Media Contact: Christopher Redmond, BFC Co-Founder/ Project Manger
Ph: 613-697-7946 E-mail: credmond@canadianfilm.com
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This Wednesday, the Canadian Film Institute presents FIVE SHORT FILMS:
Straight from the Heart of Africa.
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When: WEDNESDAY, September 19, 2007 – 7:00PM
Where: 395 Wellington Street (Library and Archives Canada) - OTTAWA
Who: Produced by the Burundi Film Center
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Included in the event:
- Photo Exhibit by Bridget Farr and Silent Auction
- East African cuisine
- Traditional Burundian entertainment (pending availability)
Admission: $10 - All proceeds to benefit the BFC
Backgrounder
The Burundi Film Center (BFC) is a media development projected launched by three Canadian filmmakers in the little-known East African nation of Burundi. With no outside funding, their own equipment and some resourceful friends, the Canadians (two from Ottawa, one from Montreal) were able to train 36 students, aged 18-25, the basics of film production and produce five short dramatic films. Already wooing audiences around East Africa, the films now come to Ottawa for their Canadian premiere on Wednesday, September 19th.
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August 15, 2007 - Blog 25 of 25
Aaaaand, That’s a Wrap!
A student told me at the premiere that it must be a nice feeling to have finally made it to the end of two months of hard work. “Two months??” I said, “more like nine months of working non-stop to get to this point.” She looked at me and smiled. “Nine months,” she repeated, “oh well then I guess this is just the birth.” I couldn’t have found a more apt analogy if I would have tried.
The pilot-project phase of the Burundi Film Center is now officially complete and my first of a three flights back to Canada leaves in just a few hours. It only seems appropriate that I’m still rushing against the clock to write this final entry, despite an incredibly relaxing one week holiday on the heavenly beaches of Zanzibar. My 24 hour return to Burundi before my flight home has been a frantic relay of finalizing everything necessary and wrestling through more seemingly insurmountable technical difficulties. Luckily, as has been the trend, friends and colleagues have stepped up and rose to the challenge, making sure I return home with copies of the films that contain both French and English subtitles. At the end of the day, those films will be the only concrete evidence of what we’ve accomplished and will hopefully be the gateway to some funding in the future.
Mark your calendars, because the BFC films will premiere in Canada at a screening/fundraiser officially slated for Wednesday, September 19 in Ottawa! I will provide more details as soon as they are available in the hopes everyone who has been following this blog, and even those who haven’t, can come and enjoy a truly unique evening of entertainment. I hope to bring in Burundian drummers, screen some behind the scenes mini-documentaries and showcase more ‘Farrout’ pictures, so it should be a great presentation of everything we’ve done so far.
I want to take this final space to thank everyone who has helped this project become what it is and sent their support throughout our time here. Reading everyone’s reactions to the project really gave us the encouragement to carry on and was appreciated in ways I can’t properly articulate. The kindness, generosity and hard work of those on the ground in Burundi – the students and volunteers – also needs to be acknowledged because we would be nowhere without you. Thank you Papy for your equipment, expertise and unparalleled support whenever we needed you. Apollinaire you were always there for us and brought a warmth of character that is always calming and re-assuring. Sabrina, you believed in the project and came on board while everything was still in pieces, you are far beyond your years and will always have a place with the BFC. Bridget, thank you for the beauty of your pictures and presence, never failing to keep myself and those around you optimistic – I hope you as well will grow with the future of the BFC. And Raymond – get back to work. I already hear our newborn crying out to be fed, so I guess we better find a way to provide. What have we gotten ourselves into…
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August 1, 2007 - Blog 24 of 25
A Boy Named Anonymous
Before she left, Bridget told me one thing she misses the most about home is being anonymous. Our white skin makes it impossible for us to walk outside without people staring, shouting and harassing us for money. You never really get used to the attention; you just learn to live with it. I try to pretend I’m a rock star and everyone wants my autograph, until I see that homeless and parentless boy who would eat my signature if he could, but would rather my loose change. My discomfort is his dream - people might not know my name, but they always have one for me.
In Africa, anonymity is a plague that infests the streets and preys on the young, weak and disadvantaged. The self-defence mechanism of just walking by isn’t only adopted by whites, but everyone who holds a job and wants to keep their sanity. The price you pay is that you begin to question your humanity. We walk the exact same streets, but we live in completely different worlds. I’m afforded a celebrity-like status from the colour of my skin and passport, while their birth-right was to a continent of nearly 600 million people, over a thousand languages and not one clue how it all came to be so difficult. I don’t have any new answers to give, but I can’t help but pose the same question. I feel incredibly fortunate to have come back to Africa but am already preparing my departure. Canada will be my return to anonymity, which most people outside entertainers probably consider a blessing rather than a curse. Films usually measure their success in the same terms, so by that account we may have finally earned some of our recognition out here.
The travelling festival is officially over and was by all accounts a success. We were able to show our films to thousands of people and if all goes according to plan, we will continue to do the same on an ever larger scale in the future. I don’t have any false sense of purpose to what we’ve done – at best we’ve fed their minds and imaginations, while at the worst we probably entertained them for an hour. What I’m really hoping we’ve accomplished is given a new voice to a population otherwise lost under the weight of troubles called Africa. Burundi, like most places I’ve never been or heard of, was just a place on a map with all the same problems as everyone else before I arrived. Now I recognize some of those faces that used to blur together in collective misery. I pass them every day and know that to them, their problems aren’t generic. Neither are their stories, but many of them are universal, so hopefully we’ve enhanced their ability to share those stories with others. The students at the Burundi Film Center are in most cases only the messengers. Their stories of love and pain, hurt and joy, are both distinctive and wide spread. We shouldn’t have to apologize for our differences, but we should celebrate our similarities. We all have a name and a story to tell, so I hope my good fortune is one day afforded to everyone.
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July 28, 2007 - Blog 23 of 25
Screen Tests and Close-Ups
A lot of the finer points of the Burundi Film Center are overlooked when I write these blogs. The main narrative of what we’re doing tends to dominate the details and I have a feeling the real flavour of the project is often lost as a result. For example, last night the whole world turned against us - we lost power, people weren’t showing up because of the poor location and then it started to rain (for only the second time in the two months since we’ve been here). The whole night was a loss and has to be rescheduled to recuperate some costs and advertising dollars, which complicates all sorts of other things, including me trying to squeeze in a small holiday at the end of this. Add on top the fact the team is quickly evaporating - Sabrina flew home last week, Raymond left to Kigali yesterday and Bridget leaves Burundi tomorrow - and I’m feeling just slightly overwhelmed wrapping everything up (we’re only halfway through the festival I should add). We have more than enough drama to satisfy what I hope are concise entries, but I’ll step back for a minute to paint some particulars.
The advertisers come each night to put up banners, make sure their commercials actually get played and that we get a large enough audience. All this happens as we race against an unforgiving sunset, rush to satisfy all the local authorities and rope in local amenities. We’ve learned to change locations in a hurry if we don’t have at least 30-40 people crowd around us during set-up, a last minute decision we’ve already made twice (which is like hitting the reset button for all the work we had done up to that point). Even if the advertisers weren’t there breathing down our neck, it would still be a shame to not have large audiences. Hearing people of all ages cheer and gasp during the films is the renewable energy that powers the whole operation.
Our screen deserves a moment of recognition. I mentioned how we weren’t able to get the inflatable one from Rwanda, but failed to explain how that meant Raymond had to have one built from scratch the night before the premiere. The 12’ x 10’ design is simple but highly effective, and we’re able to put the whole thing together in about 10-15 minutes, depending if the butter knives we use as screwdrivers hold-up. We always have to find chairs to prop it higher off the ground so everyone can see and then find a way to let the people hear who sit behind the screen (there are dozens each night for some reason). When kids aren’t getting swatted with sticks by police for getting too close to our stuff, I can often find them looking at me with big smiles and “thumbs up” approval (at least I’m hoping the thumbs up means the same thing here…).
The festival has even started to attract groupies. A few guys from the first screenings are making a point to follow us to each location they enjoy the films and project so much. They have their work cut out for them as we uproot and migrate with almost no notice, but so far they have persisted. Halfway through the festival, now I’ve got to do the same.
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July 26, 2007 - Blog 22 of 25
Nomadic Cinema
The travelling film festival, after much delay, finally got rolling on Wednesday. Our first two stops were scheduled for the outskirts of the city of Bujumbura in communities called Kinama and Kimenge. Then, by some odd coincidence, I came across this on the Burundi section of the Foreign Affairs Canada website: “Rebel attacks on civilians are still occurring in these regions, including in the suburbs of Kinama and Kamenge.” Don’t be fooled by the hat, I’m not actually trying to be a cowboy out here, but we did press on as scheduled. I just thought I should wait until we were done to write about it.
Getting the proper authorization from the all the different levels of government and policing authorities pushed everything back, but was worth the wait. Security still needs to be obtained through bribes and careful negotiations each night, but that routine is fairly predictable. Power is purchased at each location, usually from a nearby restaurant, at a rate that is generous enough that we hopefully don’t “accidentally” lose power half way through the show (which is always a realistic possibility anyway). Our biggest concern is just making sure our set-up and tear-down times don’t test anyone’s patience or boldness to make a move for our stuff (it gets mighty dark, mighty quick out here without streets lights and so forth). But the team of students we’ve recruited to help us are trustworthy and competent, making the whole experience refreshingly enjoyable.
Watching nearly a thousand people pack around our screen each night is incredibly rewarding. From the moment we arrive, a buzz spreads and people start to swarm. I had hoped to deliver flyers to explain what we’re doing and draw a crowd, but with most people being illiterate anyway, we’ve learned the novelty of what we’re doing is more than sufficient. Local music videos precede our films as the sun sets, and then our DJ gets everyone riled up explaining what they are about to see. The Burundi Film Center logo comes on the screen and it’s our turn to sit back. Our eyes on them; their eyes on the screen.
The premiere on Friday was the big test to see how well the films played to a Burundian audience. The response was fantastic, and everyone was pretty forgiving of some glaring sound errors and production goofs. The street audience tends to just have their emotions played like a yo-yo, cheering at both appropriate and inappropriate times, but always glued to the films in their own language, about their own people, shot in recognizable locations. At one point Raymond turned to me laughing and said “these guys don’t even know they’re being educated, they’re just enjoying images.” Seems like a pretty good start to me.
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July 20, 2007 - Blog 21 of 25
Drum Roll Please…
I’ve always hated when people sit back and tell me “don’t worry; it will all work out in the end.” It dismisses the effort involved in pulling something together and diminishes those who have to step up and actually get things done. Tonight, however, it did work out. The festival premiere has now come and gone, and thanks to everyone’s hard work and encouragement, we pulled it off against all the odds.
Last night, the fortunate among us got about three hours of sleep before getting up at sunrise today to get everything in order (Papy didn’t get any sleep, staying overnight in the office to transfer the actual films to a mini-DV tape). Bridget painstakingly printed, cut and folded hundreds of programs, Sabrina ran around decorating and I made one final push to drum up support from our ‘big fish’ potential sponsor. I cursed my phone (funny, since the ‘big fish’ was a telephone company) and just crashed their office about three times in as many hours until I came out with a signed advertising contract. The paper in my hand, which I drafted in about 15 minutes between negotiations, was signed by both parties and legally binding, but just a piece of paper. They insisted they wouldn’t be able to pay until they had an invoice for services rendered. It’s the day of the festival, time was ticking and it was proving to be a deal-breaker, so I bite my tongue and smiled and wished them all a good day. Our rent money had to serve as a temporary loan, so our extremely patient landlady is probably equally to thank for that working out.
Raymond tracked down a woman to borrow crates and bottles from to get our 75 cases worth of beverages. Instead of renting her supplies, however, we made a deal to sell her all our left-over stock at a reduced rate after the festival, which becomes a win-win situation for everyone. We eventually decided against selling drinks since we weren’t properly set up for it and wanted a little more of a V.I.P. feel. Ironically, this meant we would make more money by having less people attend the festival. Everything is backwards in Africa, if you haven’t figured that out yet.
Finally it was show time and the Burundian drummers we hired to open the festival were unreal. We’ve seen at least five different troops since we’ve arrived, at music festivals, clubs and weddings, but all paled in comparison. The acrobatics and showmanship in their performance was world-class and got everything off on the right foot. Then, somehow in the mess of getting everything together Bridget (also taking pictures) and I turned into our entire tech team. Raymond was busy greeting the Minister and our other V.I.Ps, as well as presenting the Burundi Film Center on stage, (ie: the glory jobs – it had to be done that way, but don’t think I haven’t punched him in the arm over it). Bridget also created an eight minute slide show for the premiere which was a treat for me since I said it was the one thing I actually wanted to be a surprise that night. Seeing the whole first phase of the project completed and documented on screen gave me chills, and seemed to validate the students’ certificates.
Since we started our training, those simple papers have been more valuable to the students than the films themselves. Education of any sort can’t be overvalued in Africa, and their certificates, officially signed and stamped by the government, now represent opportunity for them. I don’t think I appreciated that enough until I met their parents, relatives and jealous friends last night. We called the training “Level One: Introduction to Film Theory, Pre-Production and Production” since in the long term we would like the BFC to offer an advanced level and masters level, plus specialized classes (such as editing, which we really didn’t have time to properly teach). For now, and even if the Burundi Film Center never again sees the light of day, they’re all further ahead to realizing their goals than they were before. Plus we made five of what I’m unapologetically claiming are the best short films ever made in Burundi – which by the way, will start to travel on Monday, thanks to everything working out in the end.
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July 19, 2007 - Blog 20 of 25
Number 11: Look Good
A few days ago, Raymond and I made a list of all the things that needed to be done before tomorrow’s festival. We got to 20 and then stopped, since everything after that would have either been too much or wishful thinking. Number 11 on the list read “Look good, especially Christoph (you have nothing)”. Dressing up nice for a film premiere seems to be a given, but between my playoff beard and recycled formal wear already seen by every potential sponsor and government invitee in the city, I needed an extreme makeover: African edition. So that’s exactly what I got - a 1:30am haircut outside our studio with some scissors that were lying around and borrowed clothes from a friend the night before the big show. Seems fitting, doesn’t it?
The festival’s overall image is improving as well. I had a final meeting with the major beverage company in Burundi today to discuss sponsorship in the form of donating drinks. They agreed to provide 75 cases of soft drinks free of charge, which translates into 1800 bottles of assorted Coke, tonic water and flavored pop (alcohol wasn’t an option since we’re holding the festival at the Islamic Cultural Center). Typically though, the sponsorship came with a catch – they would only provide (despite our pleas) the actual liquid product, not the bottles or cases. So the relief has now created a new problem we’re still trying to sort out. Another company has agreed to donate 200 bottles of water (including the bottles!), so if nothing else at least no one will go home thirsty tomorrow.
Other sponsors are still saying they will “get back to us,” with the show only 24 hours away. The program will have to wait until tomorrow to be printed and folded, which is less than ideal but the print shop has agreed to show up early for us tomorrow morning so we can get it all done. We’ve scaled back on the entertainment since we didn’t have the budget for the bands we wanted, but one thing we preserved was the traditional Burundian drummers. The troop we’ve hired are reported to be the President’s favourite, and frankly no ceremony in Burundi is complete without them. We’re already being chastised for not having alcohol, which I’m told is the second most important traditional element at a Burundian festival. Compromise and carry on, we’re not exactly holding a “traditional” festival anyway. Tomorrow will be the first festival of its kind in Burundi, so we’re cutting corners and my hair in much of the same spirit; a little messy but with TLC and whatever we can find.
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