Joan Kabugu: Madam Chief

Joan Kabugu

REPUBLISHED FROM FILMKENYA: THE BIG FILM REVIEW (23 SEPTEMBER 2011)

Joan Kabugu's original debut into writing had nothing to do with film scripts, she first authored a popular children's book "The Boom Boom Bus" for which she is better known. Her foray into serious film-making came when she joined Medeva, a local production house for a TV/Radio production training program. The program gave her the basic skill set for a career in film but it is Maisha Film Lab that gave her the opportunity and means to write and produce her first short film, "Madam Chief".

In 'Madam Chief' the main character, a lady chief, decides to play devil's advocate by refusing to give scholarship forms to Mwambia a bright form four leaver. Her judgment and morals are questionable and she decides to use her position of power to ask a 'favor' from Mwambia. An exploration of the dark spiral down which anyone, even the fairer sex, can fall when the opportunity and circumstance present themselves.

The small grant given by Maisha Film Lab seems to have gone to good use as the production quality is of a professional level. Short films work best when they explore a concept, abstract or simplistic and in that respect, 'Madam Chief' stands out as a stark portrayal of a subject seldom shown in local film productions; The darker side of the fairer sex. It remains to be seen whether the jury at Kalasha will enjoy it enough to award it the best short film prize for which it competes against 'Me My Wife and her Guru' among other films.

REPUBLISHED FROM FILMKENYA: THE BIG FILM REVIEW (23 SEPTEMBER 2011)

Links

The Boom Boom Bus

Maisha Film Lab