Zippy Nyaruri: Zebu and the Photo Fish

©Zipporah Nyaruri

FESPACO 2011 WATCH:
Official Competition - TV/Video Fiction

From the KenyaFilm Blog 2 February 2011

Zipporah Nyaruri, an upcoming film talent from Kenya, is making ripples in regional film festivals with her latest short, Zebu and the Photo Fish.

Working variously as director, writer and editor, Nyaruri, who holds a Bachelor's degree in Business Studies from Uganda Islamic University and a diploma from the Kenya Institute of Mass Communication believes that she has learnt more about her craft from being on a real set than she could ever learn from attending formal film school. Though largely based in Uganda, the diminutive filmmaker refers to herself as "a citizen of the world", a clue perhaps to the size of her ambitions. She describes herself as having gone to Uganda looking for adventure, and ended up discovering both work and her passion for film there. After starting her career with NGO funded documentaries, she describes Zebu and the Photo Fish as her virgin foray into fiction film and says she does not intend to turn back. Her reason; "the lack of creative liberty that donor agenda impose upon you". If she makes another documentary (one of which she has already begun), she insists it will be on her terms.

Synopsis of film:

Zebu, the young son of a fisherman, gets tired of following his father in his fruitless efforts to pay an old debt at the expense of the life of his sick mother. To the disbelief of his father, Zebu embarks on an adventure to rid his dad of the debt, have the mother treated, and stabilize his family.