Hello Eli,

Last night, Moshi folks turned up in droves to see your movie, surprising everyone, even to those who organized the event. There was a gang of 20 that turned up from our neighbor village of Marangu. They rented a car to come. Obviously the word had gotten around.

Marangu gang

I was asked to kick the event off without introduction by anyone. So when I confessed to the audience that the only reason I was standing in front them is because I am the film maker’s mother, I got a chuckle and an ovation from the audience.

people waiting to go in

I sat in the back and from behind, I could see that the people were breathing with the film.  Those in the back chose to stand so they could see the subtitles and watched the film to the end on their feet.

They stood to see better.

There was a technical hitch toward the end. I was playing a DVD thatwas brand new but it was damaged, perhaps due to careless handling. It stopped close to the end — after auntie Awonyisa’s story. So they didn’t miss much. Still, that was quite regretful.

As in the U.S., some folks told me that they cried while watching the movie. People were so eager to come and exchange few words and connect.

A medical doctor from the Queens University in Kingston, Ontario, wants to connect with you. She would like to get a copy of the DVD and also send you one she made on women with HIV in Tanzania.  She was delighted to hear that you accept invitations to college campuses and give talks after showing the film.

Moshi Club volunteered to sell your DVD on our behalf. They want to contact folks in Arusha so that we can show it there. Let’s see where this enthusiasm will lead!

Admissions fee was 3,000 shillings per person. They collected 318,000 shillings (~$300USD) for the Girls’ Dormitory Project. That, I will hand over to Vunjo School when I see Reverand Mlay next.

When I was upfront, I told the audience that you were eager to see/hear how the viewing was going, so I got their permission to take one facing them straight. Folks were really good-hearted about it. Some even waved at the camera.

the audience

Love,

Mom

Help us spread the word!!  The 30th Annual San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival  officially launched their festival with a press conference this evening, and by going live with their beautiful new website!!  SFIAAFF is the nation’s largest showcase for new Asian American and Asian films, annually presenting approximately 130 works in San Francisco, Berkeley and San Jose.

We’re excited to announce that A Lot Like You is scheduled for two screenings:
Sunday, March 11, 7:20 PM at the San Francisco Film Society, and
Tuesday, March 13, 9:20 PM at the Sundance Kabuki Theater in San Francisco.

Tickets go on sale Feb 13.  You can check out our movie page and purchase your tickets here!

And I must admit, I love what Michella Rivera-Gravage has done with our synopsis:

Social worker and activist Eliaichi Kimaro is a mixedrace, first-generation American with a Tanzanian father and Korean mother. When her retired father and mother move back to Mt. Kilimanjaro, Tanzania, Kimaro decides to document her father’s path back to his family and Chagga culture. In the process, she struggles with her own relationship to Tanzania, and learns more deeply about the heritage that she took for granted as a child. Yet as she talks to more family members, especially her aunts, she uncovers a cycle of violence that resonates with her work and life in the United States. When Kimaro speaks with her parents about the oppression that her aunts face, she faces a jarring disconnect between immigrant generations on questions of misogyny, patriarchy, and violence.

“One reason this film works,” notes Tikkun Magazine, “ is that Kimaro situates her own personal family history within a social, historical, and political context of African decolonization, transnational relations, race, class, and gender politics.”

With poignant personal reflection and an engaging visual style, A Lot Like You draws the viewer into a journey that is filled with rich, multifaceted stories and history. “A moving personal essay on family and diversity” (Seattle Weekly), the film evocatively examines the intricate fabric of multiracial identity, and grapples with the complex ties that children of immigrants have to the lands and cultures of their parents.

At this moment, it looks like ALLY’s production team (Eric, Pete, Tom and myself) are all seriously considering flying in for this festival.  It’s a Biggie!!!

Hope to see you and your friends there!

Eliaichi Kimaro is a activist, speaker and advocate who has dedicated her talents to ending violence–especially gendered and intimate partner violence–by placing the experiences of marginalized and oppressed people at the center of the conversation. But first, she was a little girl with a journal, lots of ideas and an active imagination.

After over a decade of community organizing and grassroots work in both the metropolitan areas of Washington, DC and Seattle, Washington, Ms. Kimaro took her activism to a wider audience by merging her beliefs, experiences and creativity in the medium of film.

Now an award winning documentary filmmaker, Ms. Kimaro will engage the UA community in discussion about the important connections between creative expression and experience in strategically re-centering conversations around ethnicity, identity, cultural identity, accountability and justice.

This is a University of Arizona Black History/Heritage Month event sponsored by the African American Student Affairs programming Board.

The keynote will take place on Feb 20 @ 5:30 at University of Arizona, Catalina Room in the Student Union Building.

The film screening will take place on Feb 21 @ 5:30 at the Gallagher Theater (1303 E University Bvld, Tucson, AZ 85719.)  Q&A with Director to follow.

We hope to see you at one (or both) of these events!!

Hello Eli,

Mr. Shah congratulated me on The Citizen article even before we had gotten our newspaper. So, Baba and I went helter skelter to buy ourselves two copies. We wondered who on earth might have written without us knowing a thing about it.

The poster for the movie features more than a quarter of the page and they reprinted Tyrone’s article. Together with it are 6 other pictures. My goodness! 

This is the second time I am reading the article. It is so well done. Hongera to Tyrone. He really has his heart in it.

Love,
Mom

p.s. I love the photo of the ‘united nations’ family.

photo by Deirdre Quarnstrom

our feature in the Seattle Times hits newsstands today, and we couldn’t be more grateful for this beautifully written, in-depth article from Tyrone Beason.

if you’re viewing it online, be sure to scroll through the pictures.

and if you happen to be in Seattle…might we say, it’s definitely worth seeing this layout in print…

Seattle filmmaker finds herself in her Tanzanian family
African and Korean, Seattle documentary filmmaker Eli Kimaro seeks to find herself and discovers so much more…

a Dad-ism:  a good farmer keeps his eyes focused forward on the work that remains to be done.  a poor farmer keeps looking back, praising himself for how much he’s already done.

when ALLY’s creative team met earlier this month, we realized that we had outgrown the usefulness of our previous website.  beautiful though she was, the site was best suited to tell the “making of” story of our film.

but now that we have a finished film, our goals are shifting.  we need a website that’s expansive and dynamic enough to encompass our outreach & engagement campaign, of which our film will be one part.

to help us develop and implement this campaign, we have enlisted the help of Working Films who specialize in linking non-fiction films with cutting edge activism.  we are also collaborating with Bridgit Antoinette Evans whose organization, Fuel | We Power Change, helps non-profit organizations reach wider audiences through partnerships, campaigns, and creative productions developed in collaboration with high profile artists.

so this landing page is our foundation stone for a website where people can:
- connect with activists, educators, and organizations working on the issues in our film
- reflect and engage with each other and with the filmmaking team directly.
- and of course, learn more about our ever-evolving film journey…

our thanks to Josh Tuininga and his creative team at The Medium who designed and developed this web page in record time.  i look forward to seeing what we come up with in the months ahead!

So with that, out with The Old …

…And in with The New!

We’re so excited to announce that A Lot Like You is an official selection of the Africa World Documentary Film Festival.  As part of this traveling festival, our film might be screening in the following cities/countries in the coming months:

Yaoundé, Cameroon
Birmingham, Alabama
St.Louis, Missouri
Cave Hill, Barbados
Lawrence, Kansas
Ibadan, Nigeria
London, UK

We look forward to engaging with as many audiences from across the African diaspora as possible to explore how these issues relating to family, culture, identity, migration, contadiction, trauma have shaped us as individuals, and shaped the stories we’re passing down to the next generation…

We’ll be sure to post info re: screening dates and venues as soon as it’s available…

Tom and I headed over to PuzzleTree studios on Vashon today to meet with Eric, Elaine and Pete.  (More on the fruits of our conversation in a future post.)  When we returned home, there was a package at the side door.  What a surprise to find this beautiful plaque from our Montreal “Best Doc Feature” win back in October!!  This photo doesn’t begin to do it justice.  Feeling so very grateful for the run we’ve had thus far.   And can’t wait to see what this year has in store…

many thanks to Parlour Magazine for highlighting our film.  how I wish we could be there in person to see where the post-screening conversation goes!!!

On New Year’s Day, I was fortunate enough to have a long, in-depth conversation about our film journey with Akena Hammagaadji on his radio program, First World Music (WVKR 91.3FM). I’m very grateful to Akena for his thoughtful questions, and for being so generous with his time!

You can check out the full interview below.

Being quite green on the radio scene, I’m still trying to figure out how best to talk about the film with an audience who has yet to see it (being mindful of spoiler alerts, etc.)  So your thoughts/reactions would be most welcome.  You can post comments anonymously if you wish…

If you’re in NY and interested in attending the upcoming ADIFF ”Best of Fest” screening of our film on Jan 15 @ 6pm, you can purchase tickets here.