Last night the UK crew members (minus Gary who is ahem working in Ibiza) got together for the first time since returning from Tanzania. I’ve seen Leanne because of the edit and we’ve all kept in touch, however this was the first time we all met in person and for the first half an hour … More The Picture and the Tattoo
My whatsapp started pinging early this morning with messages from Jackson posing in pictures with two of the women in the film (Jackson was in the centre, of course). Having been back in the UK a month it was good to see them. However what I really wanted was an update on how everyone was … More What happens next for the Pwani Players
Last week I attended the Axa Research Fund Celebration where existing and future research into environmental, life and socio-economic risk was showcased. Sitting through this research presentation I thought about how far I had come in 10 days – the tasty canapés and central Paris location were as far away from Msata and daily … More The Risks of Making a Film about Risk
Pili is a film based on the stories of women living with HIV/AIDS in Pwani, told by these women, and filmed where they live. The women in the film are played by women from the region rather than trained actors. The majority of these women are HIV positive. Although the character of Pili is … More How we made Pili Part 2: Cast
If there is one thing that divided the crew and me it was shooting the Vikoba meeting scenes. The crew, especially Leanne, dreaded the Vikoba scenes as it meant a lot of dialogue, shooting day for night (MEGA sound issues for Tom) and long days: I LOVED a Vikoba day as it meant I could … More I LOVE the Vikoba Women
The locations for Pili are set in the Pwani region of Tanzania. Without a budget to build sets we were entirely reliant on the kindness and trust of people to use their homes as Pili’s house, their field as a work space, their council offices for the Vikoba meetings, bits of beach to drive along, … More How we made Pili Part 1: Locations
The working name for our lead character is Pili. We decided on the name after meeting many Pilis from Miono, Bagamoyo and Mbwewe over the last two weeks. We tell the story of the everyday risk of HIV/AIDS through Pili and therefore we have introduced the character to lots of groups of women as we … More ‘Pili is everywhere,’ Cecilia
Hello! Director Leanne here. With the key element of our film being authenticity, I knew early on that I wanted to work with non-actors on this project. I’m not going to pretend that this isn’t a daunting prospect as a director. Getting the performances you want from actors with years of formal training and experience … More Workshopping by Leanne
Care and treatment centres were established across Tanzania as part of the push towards the realisation of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals. These centres were established to provide clinics to distribute antiretroviral drugs for people living with HIV/AIDS, counselling and support, and services for mothers and babies. Given these two key services they are … More Staking out the CTC and our first Casting
My Swahili is kidogo sana. My Swahili teacher in 2005, Edith, was entertaining with her tales of Kenyan life, but less of a grammar and vocab disciplinarian. I have all the essentials – I can say please, thank you, can I have a beer, can I have some water, no I don’t love you, sorry … More Lost in Translation
Not Another AIDS Film 