Local film nominated for 2020 Africa Magic Viewers Choice Awards
Philippe Talavera’s film, ‘Kukuri’ has been nominated at the 7th Africa Magic Viewers Choice Awards for Best Movie Southern Africa.
Shot entirely in the Kavango East region, ‘Kukuri’ is a Namibian film addressing the issue of child marriage in Namibia, starring Hanty Kasongo and George Antonio as its leads. The film was produced shortly after ’Salute!’ which also earned a nomination at the 2018 Africa Magic Viewers Choice Awards.
Producer, OYO, conducted a survey on child marriage. Under the condition of anonymity, the team interviewed girls in the north who had been forced to marry at an early age.
“We wanted to keep the story as real as possible. During the research phase, one Headman in Omega asked us to do something on the issue, as he was concerned about the situation in his community. We, therefore – with his blessing – decided to work with the village. All the actors but one are from the village and none had been trained before (George Antonio playing Chindo is the only exception and is from Rundu). We held meetings in the village, then auditions, then training. It was a long process that was mostly spearheaded by Njandee Mbarandongo who did a great job with the community. The community shared their knowledge and how it happens. For instance, the wedding scene in the film has been shot entirely based on community knowledge – they helped with the set design and how the ceremony is organised,” Talavera said on the pre-production process.
Talavera expressed appreciation on OYO’s second Africa Magic Viewers Choice Awards nomination as it recognises Kukuri as one of the best films Southern Africa has to offer.
“We hope it will give this beautiful local film a second life. Having been there in 2018, I now appreciate more how huge this nomination is and what it means for Namibia. It is an absolutely incredible honour,” Talavera said.
The 7th Africa Magic Viewers Choice Awards is brought to viewers across the continent by Africa Magic in association with MultiChoice and is proudly sponsored by Amstel Malta.
