“For us, the question is always: how can we move beyond the idea of us and them, and into the space of actual human connection?”, says Giselle Micollo, Creative Director at Makmende Media. “We aspire to be inspired by all media makers who participate in our productions, here and there, instead of being the top-down employers. That way, working together becomes so much more interesting.” Baukje Kleinbekman agrees: “Those stereotypical sad stories about Africa are terribly outdated. I really don’t understand why they keep being produced.”
“There are incredible amounts of talent out there”, Micollo continues. “We’ve been working with film crews worldwide for years, and currently we are actively broadening our network with influencers, art directors, presenters, actors, costume designers, voice-over artists and so on wherever we can find them. I mean, a film about Kenya should have a voice-over with a Kenyan accent, not a British one. Right?”