SOUTH AFRICA: Daughter of late renowned Nigerian activist Ken Saro-Wiwa premieres critically acclaimed documentary in Cape Town

Record ID: 455051

  • Title: SOUTH AFRICA: Daughter of late renowned Nigerian activist Ken Saro-Wiwa premieres critically acclaimed documentary in Cape Town
  • Date: 10th June 2009
  • Summary: MORE OF PEOPLE WATCHING THE FILM
  • Embargoed: 25th June 2009 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: South Africa
  • Country: South Africa
  • Reuters ID: LVA3RRD6AB64JDQSH6K5YY4D5GVP
  • Story Text: Zina Saro-Wiwa, daughter of the late renowned Nigerian activist and environmentalist, Ken Saro-Wiwa, recently premiered her critically acclaimed documentary 'This is my Africa' in Cape Town, South Africa.
    'This is my Africa' is a documentary film, featuring 20 British personalities, some of them of Nigerian descent, that weaves together personal memories, experiences and quirky stories to show another side of Africa.
    Produced and directed by Zina Saro-Wiwa, the movie aims to show a positive side of Africans and Africans in the diaspora and the way they relate to their different cultures.
    "And I suppose me making the film was a way of asking people to go into their own experiences and then mixing them together and I think it's quite a powerful thing when you see all these reminiscences and ideas and memories all put together. So I think the power lies within individuals but we need - like a repository - a place to put it all. So this film is one place where all these things are kept," said Zina Saro-Wiwa.
    Zina Saro-Wiwa said her documentary movie aims to show the diversity of African culture.
    "I shot it in 4 days in London, so,in a sense it was people that were around in those 4 days that could make it. But I also really want people who really have a good overview of the continent, who might not know just about one country - they might have a good spread of different countries. They were all - without exception - just fascinating people, I think, they had really interesting, surprising points of view. I didn't want any kind of trite opinions that sort of trotted out. I wanted people who would say things that were quite surprising so I picked people I knew that would have a very different point of view - who thought kind of sideways and would give you something that you weren't expecting," Zina Saro-Wiwa said.
    The premiere of the movie coincides with the decision of the oil company Royal Dutch Shell to agree to a settlement of 15.5 million U.S. dollars to settle several lawsuits related to the executions of protesters in Nigeria in the 1990s, including Ken Saro-Wiwa, which was announced on Monday (June 7).
    The lawsuit accused Shell of human rights abuses in the Niger Delta region, including violations connected with the 1995 hangings of Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight other protesters by Nigeria's then-military government under Sani Abacha.
    The settlement came after more than decade-long battle.
    "I'm kind of really developing a relationship with what's going. I met some of the other plaintiffs for the first time which was extraordinary and seeing how all the people there had a family member that was killed alongside my father. So it was really special to be able to talk with them and to sort of find out what they've been going through. My brother and uncle had been leading the case really up until now ,and so for me it was really important to be able to go and spend time with the other plaintiffs and see what was happening. So we'll see what happens. I don't know what's going to happen but either way, I think it's been going on for 14 years and it's taken its toll on everybody involved in a sense, so I'm looking forward to the opportunity to finally putting things behind us, whichever way it goes," said Zina Saro-Wiwa.
    'This is my Africa' will be screened throughout the week of Monday (June 8) in Cape Town.
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