Wanuri wins award for lesbian film, Jambula Tree

Kenyan filmmaker Wanuri Kahiu won an award at the just concluded Durban FilmMart together with producer Steven Markovitz for their film Jambula Tree. The film is adapted from Ugandan Monica Arac de Nyeko's short story by the same name that won her the Caine Prize in the edition of the competition.

Jambula Tree is a coming of age story about two Kenyan girls, Anyango and Sanyu, who fall in love and whose desire for each other flies in the face of African conventions. This project was awarded support from the Göteborg International Film Festival Fund.

The film was part of the Durban FilmMart projects chosen for one-on-one meetings with potential investors and co-producers. Steven’s filmography includes the titles, Viva Riva!, Proteus and A Boy Called Twist. While Wanuri has bagged her share of wards for her her works like From a Whisper, For Our Land and the short film Pumzi.

The Durban FilmMart is a co-production and finance market and is a joint programme of the Durban Film Office  and the Durban International Film Festival, with aims to reach out to key players in the film sectors, both national and international, to facilitate opportunities for African filmmakers to tap into various sources of funding, encourage co-production, and introduce entry level filmmakers to the industry. 

Peter Rorvik, director of DIFF said that the Durban FilmMart supports the recognition and appreciation for Africa-storytelling, “the participants will be the next class of African film pioneers who break new ground for the African film industry.”