Author: Steve Clack

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This past August we facilitated an inspirational workshop that in many ways broke the mold for Bent Marble. For starters, we worked with participants much younger than we normally do… children actually… and as young as 5 years of age! The works they made also were not limited to the genre of documentary. For in addition to conducting interviews, they also composed and directed a series of skits, that while based on their life experiences, were acted out. A final thing that made this workshop different was that the participants were not just any group of kids, but patients receiving life-saving treatment in the children’s cancer ward at Muhimbili National Hospital in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

For this project we partnered with the Tanzanian-based NGO, Tumaini la Maisha, which means “Hope for Life” in Swahili. TLM’s goal is both simple and profound: to provide ready, local access to high quality treatments to all children with cancer in Tanzania. Importantly, TLM understands that a successful treatment program doesn’t just involve the medical components, but also the psychological and social ones. For that reason they provide ample educational, recreational, and even artistic services and activities to their patients, who often reside in the children’s ward for up to a year while receiving treatment. And this is where Bent Marble and our documentary-“ish” workshops fit in.

Let’s now take a moment to hear from Tumaini la Maisha Psychosocial Program Manager, Beatrice Millinga, who talks about the benefits of these extracurricular programs, as well as of the impact that our filmmaking workshops specifically had on the kids.

As previously mentioned the films the children made in the workshops were a combination of both documentary and fiction. In the documentary portions, the students interviewed each other on personal themes ranging from friendship, to social pressure they face as young people, to life in the hospital. And in these conversations their strength, humor, and love and support for one another really shined through. The fictional skits they made touched on equally significant topics. One highlighted the risks of child marriage (still a common practice in certain parts of the country) and the associated risk of dropping out of school. Another addresses the dreams that each child holds for the future. And their final film, entitled Maisha ya Muhimbili (or “Life in Muhimbili Hospital), portrayed the journey of two families taking their sick child through the process of entry and treatment in the national hospital, itself.

This film turned out to be an particularly poignant piece, as it provides a strong example of how a population facing great challenges can express their experiences, hopes, and fears in a creative way that empowers them, as well as potentially helps countless future patients and families like their own. Indeed, TLM plans to use this film as part of their orientation process for new families admitting their sick children to the cancer ward. For who better to let you know what to expect, than the very people who have been through it themselves!

So let’s take a look now at the amazing pieces produced by these young filmmakers:

Ndoto Yangu

Maisha ya Muhimbili

(Click here to visit Bent Marble on YouTube)

In addition to playing all the roles in their skits (from patients, to parents, to nurses and doctors), it is so important to note that the children, themselves, also performed all aspects of their films’ pre-production, production, and post-production. They came up with the ideas and scenarios, rehearsed the scenes in their free time, directed and performed the videography on shoot days, selected which takes would make the final cut, and created the titles and credits for the finished films.

It has been said that filmmaking is “a team sport”, in the sense that it typically requires the coordinated efforts of many individuals, each playing their part, in order to succeed. And with Tumaini la Maisha, it really was the case, and as never before in our program’s history. Even the parents and guardians of the patients, who often live full-time in the ward along with their sick children, got involved.

Let’s take a look now at a photo album from our Facebook page that captures this amazing team effort throughout the workshop series.

Generated by Facebook Photo Fetcher 2


I would like to offer a HUGE thanks to pediatric oncologist and TLM Director, Dr. Trish Scanlan, for having the foresight to see how Bent Marble’s workshops could potentially benefit TLM’s kids, and for encouraging us to “break the mold” and get involved. Indeed, “Dr. Trish”, as TLM staff and patients affectionately call her, has played a critical role over the years in ensuring the continuity and success of the children’s cancer treatment program. And I encourage all of you to learn more about what Tumaini la Maisha does, by checking out (and “Liking”) their Facebook page, We Are TLM.

I’d also like to extend my gratitude to TLM Psychosocial Manager, Beatrice Millinga, and TLM volunteer, Alice Frank, for being our co-facilitators, translators, and overall partners-in-crime throughout the workshops. Nothing would have gotten done on the ground without them, and they were indeed the “glue” between myself, the patients, and their families.

I am left thinking of a phrase, from the field of education, about how we often learn more from our students than they from us, as teachers. This is certainly the case for me in regards to the workshops with these inspirational young individuals. Each time I think about my experiences with them, tears well up in my eyes for the strength, resilience, innocence, and joy they showed, while face to face with a fight against a life-threatening illness. And each time the enormity of this indescribable lesson gives me pause for reflection on the precious value of each of our lives.

But beyond what they did for me on a personal level, they also made Bent Marble something different, and something more than it was before. They catalyzed a methodological metamorphosis, to include fictional and dramatized elements in Bent Marble projects, as a way to strengthen and expand the documentary’s narrative argument. And they opened our eyes to the possibility of working with populations much younger and more (for lack of a better term) “at-risk” than we ever would have dared to in the past. So in a very real way, they have breathed new life into Bent Marble, itself.

So with love, respect, and great gratitude we wish each and every one of these inspirational young filmmakers a complete recovery, and a life full of many more stories to share!

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This past August we facilitated a truly fantastic workshop series at Nafasi Art Space in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. One of the premiere centers for contemporary art in the country, Nafasi Art Space hosts a myriad of art-related events, including exhibitions, film screenings, concerts, performances, artist “hangouts”, professional trainings, and workshops, like our own. In addition, their impressive campus houses over 32 studios, utilized by more than 60 member artists. These workspaces, most of which are actually made from huge, metal, freight containers, are arranged in a roughly semi-circular formation around the campus. This configuration, along with the collaborative ethos of the organization, itself, creates a unique feeling of shared space at Nafasi, where artists can constantly be found interacting, sharing ideas, collaborating on projects, and also socializing together.

The cohort of participants that we had in this workshop series was unusual in that the vast majority already had a high level of experience in media making. Indeed, some were already professional filmmakers and videographers, while the rest were largely university students, studying film, graphic design, or multi media. The group was also unusual in that it was very large, consisting of around 18 individuals (normally in our workshops we have 10-12 participants). Knowing that it would be a challenge to work with a group this size, I immediately sought out the assistance of two of Nafasi’s member artists, who work as professionals in the field of film and video production, Abdallah Mambia and Nkumi Mtingwa.

On the first day of the workshops, where students choose, discuss, and refine the topics for their documentaries, we broke the class into two groups, with one facilitated by myself, and the other by Abdallah, who really saved the day. On the second day of the workshops, Abdallah continued his strong contribution by doing a presentation on storyboarding, a key component of pre-production. Storyboarding is a way to plan, organize, and truly “pre-visualize” a film, by drawing a sequence of cells representing the various shots that will appear in your intended motion picture. The resultant storyboard looks much like a rudimentary comic book, and serves as a blueprint for the filmmaker as she/he approaches their shoots.

Coming more, myself, from a tradition of observational cinema (in which one lets the story, more or less, unfold naturally before the camera), storyboarding was not one of my strengths. Yet I have come to find that developing this skill can be extremely beneficial, and especially to beginning documentary filmmakers, to help ensure that they go about their first projects with a clear, and visual, plan. For this reason it was wonderful to collaborate with Abdallah, whose capacities complemented my deficiencies. And based on what I’ve learned from him, I plan to introduce and utilize the concept of storyboarding in future Bent Marble workshops. Let’s hear now from Abdallah, himself, as he talks not only about the importance of storyboarding, but also about that of documentary filmmaking, as well as his overall experience of the workshops.



In a subsequent workshop, another Nafasi member artist, Nkumi Mtingwa, who specializes in animation and visual effects for film, did an outstanding presentation on using motion graphics to “add value” to one’s documentary productions. This included specific techniques to add motion to photos and titles, as well as methods of “branding” one’s film, through designing custom motion graphic elements. What was intended to be a mere one-hour lesson, was so captivating and relevant for this class of advanced learners, that Nkumi ended up teaching for the entire three-hour session! And the footprints of the professional concepts that Nkumi taught can be seen in the students’ final films. So let’s hear from Nkumi, in his own words, as he elaborates on the benefits of using motion graphics, as well as discusses the recent growth of the documentary genre in Tanzania.



Notably, as the workshops progressed, several of the participants, themselves, also stepped to the plate (or the laptop in this case), to share what they knew on topics ranging from cinematic depth of field, to color correction, to audio noise reduction. All in all, there was probably more sharing of knowledge, and indeed of the very role of instructor, in this workshop series, than in any other to date. And I strongly feel, because of this particular cohort’s high level of media making experience, that this practice served to maximize learning and intellectual engagement for all.

Unsurprisingly the films made by this talented, mutually-supportive group are truly outstanding, executed with high production value, and covering fascinating topics ranging from the struggles of a motorcycle taxi driver, to how foreigners are perceived in Tanzania, to an aspiring hip hop artist turned lawyer, to the hard life of a vegetable vendor. So without further ado, I’d like to share with you these amazing stories:

(Click here to visit Bent Marble on YouTube)

As an interesting side note, my living arrangements in Dar es Salaam also had a significant impact on the workshops. In order to keep Bent Marble’s costs down, we now ask that our organizational partners provide us with housing for the duration of our workshops. Nafasi Art Space graciously put me up in their guesthouse, which is located in the nearby neighborhood of Mwenge. There, my roommates were Nafasi Program Assistant, Nicholas Kimaro, and South African visiting artist-in-residence, Francois Knoetze. Living with them was a great opportunity to have some immediate friends in this giant megalopolis, as well as people with whom to share meals and spend free time. Interestingly, both of my flatmates ended up playing an important role in the workshops too, as Nico (as Nicholas prefers to be called) made sure our projector and incredibly heavy sound system were setup and functioning each class day. And Francois, himself a talented video artist (in addition to costumer designer and performance artist), presented one of his abstract, yet documentary-esque, pieces to the class, to help expand their minds as to what constitutes a documentary. So once again, the sharing of space led to kindly collaboration and fruitful results in Dar es Salaam.

Have a look now through a photo gallery from our Facebook page that captures and conveys the entire process of these workshops… from day one, to the countless contributions of our co-facilitators, to the successful public screening event and awarding of certificates.

Generated by Facebook Photo Fetcher 2

Before signing off I’d like to offer a big, BIG thanks to Nafasi Art Space Managing Director, Rebecca Corey, Administration Manager, Maria Kessi, and their wonderful support staff and interns, for finding and enrolling an amazing group of participants, organizing and promoting our workshops and final screening event, giving us a cozy place to stay and lunch every day, and inviting us to come back again next year (hint, hint!!:). It was a really wonderful experience, with many, many new friends made from throughout the Nafasi community.

And as a final thought, as a budding student of Swahili, Tanzania’s national language, I have recently come to understand that the word, nafasi, actually means “space” or “opportunity”. And it is clear to me that by sharing space, in so many ways, this past August, we also had an amazing shared opportunity to learn from each other and grow, as teachers, as filmmakers, and, speaking for Bent Marble, as an organization as well. So with all this in heart and mind, I’d humbly like to say,

Asante sana, Nafasi!!