Swahiliwood Productions

As part of The Swahiliwood Project, popular Swahili filmmakers went through a series of workshops, walking them through the process of producing a film with a behaviour change communication/ entertainment-education (BCC/EE) focus. The first step was a scripting workshop, which also served as the competitive pre-selection round for the two-part scriptwriting block of the workshop series. At the end of this workshop, each participant was given one week to write a concept paper for his/her film. From the concepts submitted, six were chosen to go through to the next round of script development. This second round saw the concepts being developed into full screenplays. The best three of these screenplays then continued through the remaining ten workshops, which focused on pre-production, production, post-production, and marketing.

The three weeks of preproduction included breaking down the scripts, scouting locations, casting, crewing, and scheduling three-week shoots. This was followed by a two-week production master-class, custom designed for the project by renowned American cinematographer and trainer, Barry Braverman. The Swahiliwood training focused on practical solutions to challenges facing filmmakers working with limited resources. Exercises on creative direction, camera, and lighting techniques focused the crews on possibilities within their reach. The workshop process is designed to help the resulting BCC/EE films (titled Swahiliwood Productions) stand out in the market due to higher production values, as well as encourage filmmakers to embark on their own BCC/EE projects.

Click here to view a video and images of the project.

Edutainment, Health

The project idea was born out of the realisation of the enormous potential for locally produced and distributed films to act as a platform for messaging around public health issues such as HIV/AIDS and family planning, and to harness the power of the growing Swahili film industry in Tanzania. According to research, the Tanzanian film industry enjoys wide viewership of local films nationwide in a vibrant and profitable cultural industry that provides thousands of jobs for Tanzanians and which is growing at a very encouraging rate.