Kenyan author Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o kicks off the Uhuru Film Festival
Posted by metroafrican on Feb 7, 2010 in Events, Featured • 1 comment
When the time came to get his picture taken Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o did not say “cheese”. He said “githeri” – the name of a popular Kenyan dish. The renowned author takes every opportunity to slip into Kiswahili and Kikuyu languages switching from English to either with ease.
Wa Thiong’o was in Fort Collins this week to help kick start the Uhuru Film Festival, a festival dedicated to screening African films. On Thursday wa Thiong’o discussed his novel Wizard of the Crow with a crowd that had gathered at Readers Cove book store. The novel was first written in Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o’s native Kikuyu and then translated to English and other languages.
It is important to wa Thiong’o that his writing carry the wisdom of his Kikuyu people. “Languages carry our treasures” wa Thiong’o said. Even after translation to English, Wizard of the Crow maintains some of the Kikuyu approach to phrasing and imagery, which does not happen when a book is written first in English.
After reading several passages from Wizard of the Crow Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o answered questions from the audience and signed copies of his novel.
On Friday night wa Thiong’o attended a screening of Who’s Afraid of Ngugi, a documentary film that follows Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o as he and his political activist wife Njeri journey back to Kenya after years of exile. As they are welcomed home by joyous and hopeful crowds, they also must cope with those who still find their revolutionary words and deeds threatening. Wa Thiong’o was not involved in the production of the film, but was on hand to answer questions about the context of the events depicted.
The Uhuru Film Festival continues tonight with three films from East Africa. Ugandan films A Meal to Forget and Battle of the Souls play at 3pm and 5pm, while All Girls Together from Kenya winds up the festival at 7:30. Visit uhurufilms.org for more details on these and all previous films from the 2010 Uhuru Film Festival.
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[...] this month Kenyan author Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o visited Reader’s Cove bookstore in Fort Collins as part of the inaugural Uhuru Film Festival. Below is video of the author reading from and [...]