Selected Books, Music, Film: Kenya & Rwanda
by ila | January 8, 2011 at 3:39 AM
Selected Listening and Viewing - World Pulse East Africa Tour, courtesy of World Pulse editorial team!
*KENYA*
MUSIC:
Women musicians of Wakenya Pamoja -Music for Peace (2008 post-election violence project including:
Esther Wahome: The voice of gospel music in Kenya – and a peace activist.
Website: www.kenyangospel.com/artists/esther-wahome.php
Suzanna Owiyo, called 'Kenya's answer to Tracy Chapman' by the East African media.
Website: http://www.suzannaowiyo.net/press-mainmenu-102.html
Abbi: Absalom Nyinza, popularly Abbi, is one of Kenya's most popular male Afro-jazz and Afro-fusion
musician who has also been a campaigner for the Global Call to Action Against Poverty,
Website: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Abbi/106034602760430
MOVIES:
Anne Mungai, director of the 1993 feature film Saikati, is among the 'first wave' of women filmmakers in
Kenya. Films include: The Beggar's Husband. 1980; Nomani Clinic, 1980; The Tomorrow's Adult Citizens;
Together We Build. 1982. http://africanwomenincinema.blogspot.com/2009/08/glance-at-kenyan-women-in-
cinema.html
Wanuri Kahiu’s second film, the award winning From a Whisper (2008) covers the 1993 terrorist bombing
of the US Embassy in Kenya. She won the awards for Best Director, Best Screenplay and Best Picture at the
African Movie Academy Awards in 2009.[1]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wanuri_Kahiu
Jane Murago Munene, one of Kenya's second-wave female directors. Films include: The Price of a Daughter,
fiction, 2003; and Turning Tide: Women Entrepreneurs in Africa (13-Part series), 2008.
Info: http://africanwomenincinema.blogspot.com/2010/10/jane-murago-munene-entr...
*RWANDA*
MUSIC:
Sophie Nzaywenge, a young global rising star of Inanga – the traditional Rwandan harp – who composed the
well known 'Ballad of Africa.'.
Shanel (Ruth Nirere Shanel), a popular musicians whose radio hit song and album, Ndarote has widened her
international audience.
Website info on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=550299843
Dorothee Munyaneza – Igihe, who released a popular album entitled, Luminary. She initially gained worldwide
exposure following her film music debut on the soundtrack of the Oscar-nominated 2004 feature film Hotel
Rwanda.
MOVIES :
Major Release films About the Genocide – different political perspectives:
Sometimes in April, the acclaimed 2005 HBO feature film by Paris-based Haitian director Raoul Peck.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sometimes_in_April (Amazon.com)
Hotel Rwanda: the Oscar-nominated 2004 feature film about the genocide by director Terry George starring
Don Cheadle. (Amazon.com)
Shake Hands with the Devil: The Journey of Roméo Dallaire – a documentary about the role of UN Blue
Helmets and General Dallaire in failing to prevent Rwanda's genocide. (Amazon.com
WOMEN:
God Sleeps in Rwanda, a documentary by US director Kimberlee Acquaro and Stacy Sherman, narrated by
Rosario Dawson, tells the story of five courageous women as they rebuild their lives and redefine their roles
in Rwandan society, post-genocide. (Women Make Movies distributor. Website: http://www.wmm.com/
filmcatalog/pages/c681.shtm
PBS 'Wide Angle' “Ladies First” Rwanda's Women Rebuild the Nation After the Genocide, a PBS
series television documentary segment on the remarkable post-genocide role and victories of Rwandan women in
rebuilding their society and gaining a political voice.
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/wideangle/episodes/ladies-first/introduction/204/
