Cinematic scholars from Kenya will describe for Polish audiences how the storytelling traditions of Africa come to life on the silver screen as part of a summer secondment to the city of Szczecin that begins on June 1. Led by Prof. John Mugubi, the team from Kenyatta University (KU) will lecture, attend conferences and visit notable film archives as part of their time in Poland.
Dr. Mugubi, who teaches in the Department of Theatre Arts and Film Studies at the KU campus in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi, will be joined by colleague Dr. Benea Alwang’a Azangalala and Clinton Kihima, a PhD candidate who is travelling with the team as part of an Erasmus+ visit. Also making the trip is researcher Adon Ombura, who lectures in Textile Design.
The team from KU is hosted by the Academy of Art in Szczecin (AAS), which is TPAAE’s lead partner. Members will travel to the Polish school’s counterpart in the city of Lodz and to the University of Social Sciences in Warsaw, in addition to lecturing at the University of Szczecin as part of their itinerary. Subjects for discussions that will take place both online and on location range from the narrative structure used by African filmmakers to the dynamics of festival production in Kenya.
As well, KU researchers will explore the Film Archive of noted Polish director Krzysztof Kieslowski, whose Three Colours trilogy are among the films that gained him worldwide acclaim. Films from Africa will be shown at the late director’s centre in Sokolowsko in southwestern Poland, where the team also will tour a gallery and art spaces
As befits their areas of expertise, the visiting scholars will present takes on filmmaking and presentation from an African perspective. Dr. Mugubi will offer lectures on screenwriting and directing, as well as the ontology of messages that underly African cinema. Dr. Alwang’a Azangalala’s talks also will discuss the ideological elements of the stories told in African film, as well as looking at how festivals are organized and produced in Kenya.
In addition, KU researcher Anne Mwiti, who is obtaining her doctorate from the AAS, will present an exhibition of painting at the Academy’s R+ gallery that opens on July 13. Dr. Aleksandra Lukaszewicz, TPAAE’s main coordinator, will accompany the KU team during secondment travels, whilst AAS student Klaudyna Szymanska will guide members on a trip to Berlin before their departure on July 31.