Lupita Nyong'o : actress in the Kenyan series "Shuga" and director of "In My Genes"

Lupita Nyong'o : actress in the Kenyan series "Shuga"director of "In My Genes" and

Award winning actress Lupita Nyong'o's first work as director and producer In My Genes, is a documentary about the experiences of people with albinism in Kenya. Made in 2009, the film was her thesis project at Hampshire College in the USA where she received a B.A. in film.

What is it like to be 'white' in a 'black' society? In My Genes shares the lives of 8 people with albinism in Kenya. It reveals the uplifting life story of Agnes, a woman with albinism of few means who heads a household of 7 children, her 17-year-old daughter expecting another. During the course of the documentary, Agnes discovers she has skin cancer and finds out the real reason why she lost both of her eyes. Yet Agnes keeps going, trusting in the work of her hands and the strength of her God. The threads of the woolen baskets she weaves blindly hold her family together as she tells us her story.

Interviews with seven other individuals inter-cut Agnes' narrative to share their unique experiences of living with albinism. They ponder on questions about the effects of their condition on aspects of their childhood, adolescence, sexuality, race, and dreams.

In My Genes presents an intimate introduction to albinism, and asks us to consider how it feels to be a member of one of the most hyper-visible and yet invisible groups of people in a predominantly black society. It is a film on disability, minority discrimination, identity, issues of representation, confidence and perception of the other.

Source: Third World Newsreel: http://www.twn.org/catalog/pages/cpage.aspx?rec=1222&card=price

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Shuga (Trailer) with Lupita Nyong'o - MTV Staying Alive - EngageMedia

http://www.engagemedia.org/Members/MTVLudo/videos/MTV_PROMO_KENYA_MIX_SQUARE.mov/view

GLOBAL: MTV drama brings cool to HIV prevention

Source: IRIN Reuters / AlertNet

VIENNA, 21 July 2010 (IRIN) - It's a story of sexy young guys and girls having a good time in the big city, of friendships pushed to the edge, and families struggling to survive, but underneath all the drama, MTV's "Shuga" is a story about HIV.

"My character, Ayira, is young, attractive and very ambitious. When her father left it changed her economic status, and she'll do anything to get back up there," Lupita Nyong'o, who plays one of the main characters, told IRIN/PlusNews. Ayira cheats on her boyfriend with an older man at her workplace, who convinces her to have sex without a condom. He turns out to be HIV-positive.

Source: 

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/IRIN/4fdd420d570aee785a840e748c6a4457.htm NO LONGER AVAILABLE

UPDATED TO INCLUDE WORK AS FILM DIRECTOR