Nairobi, Kenya
$500 - $1000 / Day
Request QuoteMy name is Elijah Kanyi, a Filmmaker. Born and bred in Mathare Slum, one of the biggest slums in East Africa, I have learnt many life lessons and witnessed so many injustices. Being born in a slum is like being born in the wild; life there is a classic case of survival for the fittest. I have seen it all. One of the best things i have gotten from Mathare are good friends who have helped raise my life's standards, reminded me of my essential purpose and challenged me to be the best version of myself. I am who i am today because they give me the courage and confidence to tell their stories through the lens- a cameraman. My biggest motivation for taking this line of work came from what the media aired about Mathare. There were many stories to be told but the slum residents did not trust the reporters because they were strangers to them. As a resident of Mathare Slum, it is easier for me to source for stories ranging from corruption in the constituency development fund to robbery and police brutality. I have gained the trust of the residents and they call upon me to air their grievances and hardships.
I managed to get exclusive footage of what appears to be a security agent dressed as a protestor chasing demonstrators and receiving a teargas canister from uniformed police. To just show where the protest ended with police fearing tear gas. But I still managed to stick to the subject which was Anti corruption demonstration organised by Activist Boniface Mwangi.
Director, Producer and a cameraman at the same time. I did the planing since all this did not happen in one day. At first I had to spend few minutes with the characters to make them feel, I am part of the space and after few minutes everything was just flowing. They could not tell if I was there filming apart from the moment where I was asking question and changing position. Art
Produced for Zoomin.TV
I was filming Kenya Election in Mathare, Kibra and Kawangware dangerous slums in Nairobi. I was the Director,Producer at the same time Camera operator, planing made it easy for me. I just made few calls to find out the right place to be, make sure my security is okay, carry what I needed most that is Camera, Tripod and Mic. I always travel simple to make my work easy. CREATIVITY IS THE WAY TO GO
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