Categories: Entertainment

Kenyan Film ‘Camel’s Back’ Gives Voice to African Girls

“Camel’s Back,” a short film about a young girl’s coming of age, will make its debut May 1st. Award-winning producer of the film Wangechi Ngugi recently spoke with Face2Face Africa to raise awareness — and funds — for her new project.

Set in a fantasy world, “Camel’s Back” follows a young African girl who, in the midst of feeling unheard, only has one day to live. Ngugi says, “We are making the short film using never-before-seen locations [in Kenya] on film to tell a story about the growing pains that young girls face.

“This magical realism piece is unique and untold, and we wanted to bring people into the inner workings of the mind of a young African girl.”

Written and directed by Michelle Mboya, who is studying both Film and Economics at Yale University, “Camel’s Back” is part of the university’s senior thesis project, which has provided partial funding.

Mboya says, “The film is really important to me because it really presses on the issue of invisibility of the young, Black African girl child in her world and the world at large.

“All I want is to tell a story that talks about what it means to hope, to want, to dream, to be isolated, to be depressed, just to be a girl and show that race, class, ethnicity, nationality — all those things make very little difference when it comes to these feelings.”

Both Ngugi and Mboya are reaching out to the public to meet their $6,000 benchmark for the film. At press time, they only need $2,000 more to meet their need.

Watch Mboya discuss “Camel’s Back” here:

On why you should watch “Camel’s Back,” Ngugi says, “We think viewers will benefit from a film that focuses on a voice that is unheard in real life. The film takes place in two very beautiful and untouched parts of Kenya which help brings the story to life.”

Ngugi adds, “It’s a really touching piece that will make everyone think twice about what it means to listen to other people.”

“Camel’s Back” can be viewed on Vimeo or on the film’s Facebook page.

Help these filmmakers surpass their financial goal here.

Abena Agyeman-Fisher

Abena Agyeman-Fisher is the Editor-in-Chief of Face2Face Africa. Most recently, she worked for Interactive One as the Senior Editor of NewsOne, she worked for AOL as the News Programming Manager of Black Voices, which later became HuffPo Black Voices, and for the New York Times Company as an Associate Health Editor. Abena, a Spelman College graduate, has been published in Al Jazeera, the Daily Beast, New Jersey’s The Star-Ledger, the Grio, BlackVoices, West Orange Patch, About.com, the Source, Vibe, Vibe Vixen, Jane, and Upscale Magazines. She has interviewed top celebrities, icons, and politicians, such as First Lady Michelle Obama, Senior Advisor to the President Valerie Jarrett, Civil Rights activist and diplomat Andrew Young, comedian Bill Cosby, Grammy Award-winning singer Jill Scott, actress and singer Queen Latifah, Olympic Gold winner Cullen Jones, international supermodel Alek Wek, and five-division world champion boxer Floyd Mayweather. Most recently, she served as the First Lady’s press reporter during President Barack Obama’s U.S.-Africa Summit, Young African Leaders Institute event, and the 2013 presidential trip to Senegal, Johannesburg, Cape Town, and Tanzania. Abena is also a 2015 International Women's Media Foundation Africa Great Lakes Fellow, where she reported on women candidates and Chinese sweatshops in Tanzania for CNN and Refinery29.