Hafiz's Sister's Wedding

I've been put in touch with a Ghanaian filmmaker named Hafiz. I know him through a mutual acquaintance, a guy who's one of the managers at a local hangout called Sparkles. Hafiz puts on "Theatre of the Oppressed" (http://www.theatreoftheoppressed.org/) productions in small local communities as a way of educating & politicizing the locals. I'm going, hopefully on Tuesday, to check out one of his rehearsals. He videotapes some of these, and, somewhat incongruously, is also interested in local-style narrative films in the Nigerian style.

Nigerian films are basically genre B-movies. They're horror, action, etc. on a shoestring budget, morally conservative, sensationalistic, and cheesy (to the cynical Westerner) as all hell. There's touches of Bollywood-style symbolic realism and manic overacting. I might get a chance to be a token white guy in one of these. I'm having trouble thinking of anything more fun.

I went to his sister's wedding today - the first chance I've had to actually meet the guy. We talked for a while, I met some of his friends - talked to one for a long time about the NGO he works for - and eventually I begged off to go do some work. Like write this blog post.

I'm pretty excited about this - Hafiz is a genuinely friendly guy, and the work he's doing looks like a pretty sweet topic for a documentary (maybe, maybe, wish I had a broadcast-quality camera). I think I can contribute as well - the filmmaking techniques here are pretty basic and I've got the good old BFA.

Thought I'd dash this off while it was fresh. Apologies for rushed nature of the post & lack of art. I don't like bringing a camera when I'm not working - too intrusive. Someone at the wedding took a photo of me and the bride - I'll see if I can get a hold of that, maybe.