Binti brings Hollywood to Bongowood

Not many Tanzanian films make it onto the big screen, but Dar-set drama Binti has secured a cinematic release at home and abroad. Twiga speaks to Angela Ruhinda, its co-screenwriter and co-executive producer, about the new standards the film sets.

International Women’s Day, March 8, saw the world premiere of Tanzanian-made film Binti at this year’s online Pan African Film & Arts Festival (PAFF) along with gala screenings at cinemas in Dar es Salaam, Nairobi and Kampala. It was a fitting date for a film in which women dominate in front of and behind the camera.

Tanzanian cinema-goers will also have the chance to see Binti (the title means ‘daughter’ in Swahili) on the big screen as it goes on nationwide release from April 9. The powerful film focuses on four very different women in Dar es Salaam, whose lives ultimately entwine in unforgettable fashion. The project was devised and brought to screens by Tanzanian production company Black Unicorn Studios, run by sisters Angela and Alinda Ruhinda. Angela also wrote the screenplay alongside the film’s director, Seko Shamte.

The March 8 date for the premiere was a happy accident, Angela tells me, as was the allwomen creative team assembled for the film. She was delighted to secure Seko – an established Tanzanian filmmaker with her own production company, Alkemist Media – as she was the best person for the role, irrespective of gender.

Universal story

“Picking Seko to be our director was the best decision we could have made,” the 32-year-old says. “She’s very sharp and she has never had the opportunity to tell a story about women like this.”

That story of the struggles for women is not only a recognisable one in Dar es Salaam, but Angela also hopes it has universal relevance to women all over the world. The predominantly Swahili film’s English subtitles should help build the film’s reach beyond East Africa. Those in the audience, wherever they are, should be prepared for an emotional experience. “Bring your tissues,” says Angela.

She adds: “Binti explores the interior spaces of women that we rarely get to see. It sheds light on the concerns, plight and pressures of Tanzanian women living in its cities. We hope our audiences leave the cinema knowing that the Tanzanian woman is no different from other women from other parts of the world.

“It is a universal story of the struggle of women in general. And it is important for men to see this film as well and recognize their sisters, mothers and daughters.”

Being selected for PAFF should play a role in raising the global profile of the film. In its usual pandemic-less physical form, the 10-day festival is based at a cinema in Los Angeles, a US city Angela knows well. The film fanatic and keen writer headed to the home of Hollywood in 2011 to study for a masters in screenwriting and playwriting at the New York Film Academy after completing a degree in philosophy and film studies in the UK.

(below) Angela Ruhinda

Black Unicorn Studios team

While on the year-long course, Angela wrote a thesis script about a secret office romance between two 20-something interracial co-workers that inadvertently goes public. The comedy, called Iman & Andy, was snapped up by Electus, a multimedia entertainment studio with links to Academy Award-winning actress Whoopi Goldberg, which then sold it to US television network ABC.

Writing in Hollywood

Like so many initially promising projects in Tinsel Town, Iman & Andy languished in development hell and never made it onto screens. However, Angela had made an instant name for herself in a competitive market and was soon writing and directing her short film If Girls Were Like Boys, and got her name in the end credits of a Hollywood film when she was among the scriptwriting team for Moonlight in Vermont, a 2017 entry in the long line of hugely popular romantic comedies released by the Hallmark channel.

Born in Canada to Tanzanian parents, Angela had an itinerant upbringing with long stays in China, Kenya and UK necessitated by her parents’ work. Still, after years of screen success Stateside, she felt the pull of her homeland and decided to return to Tanzania.

“I was very fortunate to work with a few big companies in Hollywood and I am proud of what I am accomplished in my short-time living and studying in Los Angeles,” she says. “Initially, I came home to be closer to my family and when I made the move to return home, I decided that I would use my talent and experience to bring something new to Tanzania. Fortunately, my sister Alinda was more than willing to join me in the quest to produce quality entertainment in our own backyard.”

Alinda had also spent time in the US, studying for a degree in advertising at Temple University, in Philadelphia, and built a career in media and marketing. Such skills were crucial in building the Black Unicorn Studios brand when the sisters launched the project in August 2018. The studio produces content such as music videos, documentaries and online and TV commercials. Its first major project was The Big Three, a comic stage play that captures the chaos that ensues when a woman decides to hold a dinner party to introduce the three men she is dating to one another. It was written by and starred Angela and played to packed houses at Dar’s Little Theatre Club.

Binti is our first feature film and the stakes are high. We want to introduce ourselves as competent and forward-thinking storytellers

Debut feature

This success spurred the sisters to develop the studio’s first feature film, which would set new standards for production values here. Tanzania

has a popular ‘bongo’ film industry, but it thrives on quick turnaround video films shot with low budgets, short schedules and camcorders. The Ruhinda sisters, however, had a vision that was more Hollywood than Bongowood.

Binti director Seko Shamte with the film’s leading actors at the premiere in Dar es Salaam

“Binti is our first feature film and the stakes are high. We want to introduce ourselves as competent and forward-thinking storytellers,” Angela says. “Black Unicorn Studios aims at producing high quality productions that reach international standards.

High production values

“We believe that investing in certain aspects of film and theatre will elevate all our stories. Certain aspects of production aren’t emphasised in Tanzania and we would like to change that. Every great film needs a script, for example. Rehearsals were also such a big part of making Binti. By the time cameras start rolling, everything should run like clockwork. The end result is great performances and a great product.”

Angela, Alinda and Seko led the Binti rehearsals at the Black Unicorn Production House in Dar’s Masaki neighbourhood with a cast of mostly amateur actors, although fans of TV talent show Bongo Star Search will spot head judge Rita Paulsen playing the role of a doctor

Dar drama – scenes from the film Binti

Dar drama – scenes from the film Binti

Angela says: “Out of the four leading ladies, Godliver Gordian is a seasoned actor and has a loyal fan base in Tanzania. The other three ladies – Bertha Robert, Maggie Munisi and Helen Hartmann – are fresh faces. Audiences will be blown away by their gut-wrenching performances, we are very proud of them and all the actors in general.”

As well as the exacting rehearsal process, the team took time in choosing outside locations for the film shoot, evoking a true sense of the life of contrasts that Tanzania’s commercial capital presents.

Angela says: “The film was shot over the course of 21 days, all over the city of Dar es Salaam. [We captured] different extremes of the city, like the busy streets of Kariakoo to as far away as Mbweni and Mbezi Beach. We had 12-hour days, Monday to Saturday. The first week we did early mornings starting at 6am, second week was night shoots and the final week was a mix of day and night. We were lucky to have a good locations manager, Sulemain Mchora, who managed to get us several locations that fit the tone of the film.”

The striking locations suffuse the film with a cinematic quality that was made for the big screen and theatres in Dar, Mwanza, Dodoma, Tanga and Arusha will be showing Binti from April.

The film is already making waves with super models Flaviana Matata and Millen Happiness Magese among the firmament at the star-studded Dar premiere. Angela hopes “to keep this momentum going for years to come” with projects that showcase the country’s creative talent.

“From theatre to films, we have met people who are skilled in every department. There are so many wonderful actors, singers and writers here.

“Tanzanians are very talented; we just lack the opportunity to showcase these talents. We hope this changes, and that Black Unicorn can be a part of that change.”

Global reach

The studio also wants its films to be appreciated far beyond the country’s borders. With the Academy Awards panel finally bowing to pressure to be more inclusive with the talent it singles out, Tanzanian cinema could be on their radar very soon. Whether it is or not, Angela and Black Unicorn are on a mission to make their mark.

“We see no reason why we can’t bring our own seats to the global table of storytelling. We are not opposed to getting a call from the Academy awards but we will make history regardless.”

Actress and TV show host Rita Paulsen at the Binti premiere

To keep updated with Tanzanian screening dates for Binti, follow @bintimovie

To find out more about the work of Black Unicorn Studios, visit blackunicornstudiostz.com

Classics of African cinema

Our pick of the films to check out from across the continent

1. Abouna (Chad, 2002)

This tender, poignant film by Chad director Mahamat Saleh Haroun follows the forlorn attempts of two young brothers to track down their missing father.

2. Touki Bouki (Senegal, 1973)

This subversive film chronicles the adventures of a rebellious Senegalese couple in their efforts to escape to Europe.

3. I Am Not A Witch (Zambia, 2017)

Director Rungano Nyoni helms this ultimately uplifting tale of a young Zambian orphan who is accused of witchcraft and exiled from her village only to fall in with a bizarre mentor who seems to summon miracles from her.

4. The Wedding Party (Nigeria, 2016)

This fast-paced comedy about a young couple’s chaotic wedding plans has proved the highestgrossing international hit of the Nollywood movie industry.

5. From A Whisper (Kenya, 2009)

This affecting drama explores the lingering legacy of the bombing of the US Embassy in Nairobi in 1998 by focusing on the victims and their families.