Festival Finalists (DOCNZ 2007, New Zealand)

MORE EXCITING NEWS: 'A Grandmother's Tribe' has been selected as one of eleven finalists in the New Zealand Competition for DOCNZ 2007. The eleven selected films will compete for cash prizes and top honours in the categories of Best New Zealand Feature, Best New Zealand Medium and Best New Zealand Short. The winners of the New Zealand Competition will be
announced at the Awards Night in Auckland on the 1st of October 2007.  

For more information, please refer to the DOCNZ website (http://www.docnz.org.nz) for
details regarding the 2007 DOCNZ Festival, including a downloadable programme and festival schedule.  

World Premiere Announcement - DOCNZ International Documentary Festival

Dear Friends of 'A Grandmother's Tribe':

SHOWTIME! - WORLD PREMIERE ANNOUNCEMENT (NZ):

After a most wonderful process of making this film a reality, we are pleased to announce the WORLD PREMIERE of 'A Grandmother's Tribe' Documentary Film at the DOCNZ International Documentary Festival 2007, in Auckland New Zealand.

Time / Date: 12:15pm, Saturday 29th September 2007 (Q&A will follow)
Venue: Academy Cinemas in Auckland, New Zealand.
We recommend you book your tickets in advance from the Academy Cinema, phone 373 2761.

All attending the screening are invited after the Premiere: for celebratory afternoon tea
Venue: Rooftop Garden, Chancery Chambers (Corner Chancery & O'Connell Streets)
Time: 2:00pm - 4:00pm
RSVP: qiujing@borderlessproductions.com by 25th September 2007.

Further screenings will be held in Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin.
For showtimes in these locations, please visit our facebook page or the film's website.

Felix Masi - Arriving from Kenya to NZ Thurs, 8 March 2007

How exciting - Felix is making his maiden journey to New Zealand, arriving tomorrow!!! The purpose of the trip is to translate our very lengthy footage filmed in Kenya last december into English. After arriving back here last Dec 06, we hunted high and low for translators of the 4 village dialects that the grnadmothers speak (we had anticipated recording in Kiswahili, but we discovered upon meeting them that they don't speak their national language in the villages). We couldnt find anyone in NZ with this skill, so our decision to bring Felix to NZ was made!!!

On many levels this is very exciting:
1. we get to finally transcribe our 53 hours of footage to English
2. Felix makes his first journey to NZ
3. The connection between Kenya and NZ is further solidified
4. Our project continues to build momentum.

I'd love to hear from you, and thank you all for your continued support. The Sponsors Club is growing and we're able to make the film happen because of you!

All love Q x

ARTICLE: 'Innovative Approach to Development Proves That Grandmas Know Best'

THE GRANDMOTHER PROJECT has recently been quoted in this article on the WORLDWATCH INSTITUTE - an independent ressearch organisation for an environmentally sustainable and socially just world. This article provides further evidence that grandmothers have a critical role to play in all aspects of our societies, especially in developing countries like Kenya.

'Innovative Approach to Development Proves That Grandmas Know Best'

http://www.worldwatch.org/node/4890

Regards,
Q

In Editing Mode and continually evolving...

You no doubt know that the 'A Grandmother's Tribe' production team is now back safely in Auckland, NZ. Our experience filming in Kenya (Nairobi, Busia, Kisumu and Nakuru) went splendidly!

'A Grandmother's Tribe', is now made up of 53 hours of high definition footage, a couple of editors, an edit suite getting warmed up, a team of story writers, a couple of executive producers and a lot of heartfelt support. It is remarkable how much has been accomplished with the encouragement of our many donors and sponsors. You have given us advice, finances, connections, positive attitudes and all this keeps directing us in the right way.

Our schedule for now, is to allow the film to make its way into the computer, to evolve the script from the completed treatment which we're very happy with, and to plan for the next phase of fund-raising. Apart from submitting applications to a couple of film funds and continuing with donations for our grandmothers, we're also working on putting together the 'Black Tie Gala event of the Year' aiming for mid 2007 as a pre-release event for the film!!! So watch this space for more announcements to come over the next few months.

The goal is to have the film ready for international festival release by July 2007, and in that release phase, we will also work on a couple of Premiere events around the world (one of which will definitely be back in Kenya with the stars of the film).

Many of you have asked when this documentary will be on television. For now, we are focused on our festival release strategy, and our television broadcasts are likely to unfold out of the success we have in theatres. When we do strike broadcast deals, we will be sure to tell you both on the BLOG and through our newsletter.

To remind you all, 'A Grandmother's Tribe' is a NOT FOR PROFIT venture. Produced by Borderless Productions, we are dedicated to making sure that all net proceeds are directed first back to the grandmothers featuring in our films. It has already started and this approach is working as you will have read about in the BLOG. These wonderful women will take care of ensuring that the money is spent on education for their children, building facilities for a better life in the villages and slums and the many other ways they plan to advance their lives in Kenya.

Beyond this and into the world...the film and campaign has a growth plan whereby we intend to reach grandmothers in communities in the developing world first and then eventually all grandmothers of the world. So there is definitely a lifetime of work set out in front of us.

As we have always maintained from the very start, all grandmothers are worth honouring...they are often the strength and backbone of our societies and the very group that we should be going to to learn our history, culture and take advice for the future.

Please contact me if there is anything I can do to help you be better informed on this film, or the campaign.

Thanks,
Qiujing

P +64 9 302 3103
C +64 21 620 348 or
email me at qiujing@borderlessproductions.com

Updates from Funyula

Only a few weeks since Kimberley sent her support to the women of Funyula, we have been able to get progress photos of the acerage that she sponsored. These women now have a generator, pumps, irrigation, fertiliser and seeds to be able to plant this acre of land and grow crops to raise money for school fees and other necessities.

Felix returned to Funyula this week from Nairobi to document the progress, and here is what he just sent us.
Its amazing to be able to track this kind of work so easily thanks to Technology, but moreso thanks to the incredible dedication of Felix in kenya who tirelessly works to make our job as supporters so much more enjoyable.
Thanks Felix.
Q x

Thanks to our sponsors and donors...keep up the great support!

This is a special note to thank our sponsors and supporters of A Grandmothers Tribe.

Wishing you all a very happy new year, and on behalf of Dean, Felix, Susie and the team in Kenya whom we have had the great fortune of working with, thanks very much for your support. Your donation, best wishes, emails, connections and ideas have been the most awesome contribution to this project!

Dean and I got back from Kenya a few days ago after what was a wonderfully eye opening, life enriching experience. It’s hard to describe in words the way people live there – thank goodness we’re making a film so we can show you instead of tell you :) We were talking with friends when we got back and I think the whole thing was a bit like a mini-miracle really. We didn’t lose anything, we didn’t get sick, we weren’t harassed (much), we had the perfect fixer (Felix) and crew, and we found the most wonderful grannies and their families. I find it hard to imagine what we might have found if we hadn’t enlisted the support of Felix in Nairobi.

We feel that this project is definitely on the right track. We haven’t had to push too hard to make anything work, which is a good sign. The film definitely wants to be made and these people are definitely worth helping out.

On top of being able to shoot 53 hours of footage in very interesting villages and slums in Kenya, we were also able to provide assistance personally to a couple of grannies and their communities. One of my greatest lessons in being there in the capacity of a humanitarian worker is learning “HOW” best to help. Handing over cash can often be disastrous, and ruin peoples lives and their communities. So with the careful guidance of Felix and the locals, we were able to assess the best way to help. Our conclusion was to do things that give people a hand up and not a hand out...the classic story of teaching man to fish! So with that in mind, we were able to sponsor the planting of an acreage plantation for 30 grannies to raise money to “get ahead” and send their grandchildren to school (thank you Kimberley and family), provide some xmas gifts to various grannies, buy a couple of mattresses for a few grannies to sleep on so they can rest better and care better for the younger children, and sponsor education for a couple of teenagers in the slum who care for their bed-bound granny.

The challenge we faced experiencing such widespread poverty is the amount of it - it was quite crippling. So the best thing to do is to understand that we may not be able to help all 800,000 in Kibera slum, or to build a home for every person in the village..but to know that by helping one or two, they in turn will be stronger and help more of those around them.

One of the most touching moments for me was when Malcolm, one of our Kibera security boys told me as I was leaving that in all his years of growing up in Kibera he had never thought about giving anything back to his people...and after working with us, he felt strongly that he wanted to try to do something to make Kibera a better place to live. He wants to help someone with the small amount of money he has, or maybe even mentor someone. Very cool!

So, thanks everyone, and we wish you all a prosperous, rewarding and very happy and healthy 2007! We’re into the scripting and editing phase and will keep you posted over the next 3-4 months on the completion of this film.

Support is continually welcomed as we continue to cover post-productions costs such as translations, editing and so on. Please pass on this information to your friends and families if you think they would be interested in joining our sponsors club.

Regards,
The AGT team.. xx

Merry Christmas

From the team in Kenya, we wish you a wonderful Christmas. The journey is almost over, and our time with grandmothers and their families in both the villages and cities in Kenya has changed our perspective of humanity forever! This year, thanks already to many friends with big hearts, we have not only been able to begin making a fabulous film, but we have also contibuted to helping up many whom really need our support. Grandmothers in Kenya have benefited from bags of flour, sugar and tubs of fat, parrafin, AN ACERAGE PLANTATION fitout with generator, pump and irrigation, and grandmothers in Kibera, Nairobi have been given small gifts and their grandchildren will be supported with education in 2007.

The team in Kenya working with us, Felix Masi our fixer, Susie Banfield resident grandmother and photographer, Ken and Ngungu our drivers, Malcolm X, Brian Jnr ("Daddy"), Kenneth, Abuja and Badi our security, and Laya, Pastor, Mili and Judith our guides, are incredible people whom we will not forget. Thanks for making Kenya a colourful place to be! :)

For now, Dean and I are back to NZ soon to complete the making of this film, and the next steps promise to be just as exciting as the previous ones. We plan on a NZ based Black Tie Gala Event starring the grannies from our film, travels back to the grandmothers in Kenya to premiere the film, and a global distribution to all festivals and cinemas to finally deliver the world this beautiful story of the unsung heroes of Africa.

Merry Christmas to you all!

Love the AGT team..xx

Christmas gifts for the Kibera family...

Today, Chloe & Halle (on behalf of Debbie Riopel) and the Munro family (on behalf of Elaine Munro), donated towards the project...and we have decided that this will go towards the family we have been focussed on in the slum of Kibera. In particular, we have asked Silas (16), David (15) and Wyclef (20) to get the costs (with our Kenyan based helper) of attending high school in 2007. These boys have just finished free primary education...and there is no way they can go to high school next year. They are amongst the 9 orphaned grandchildren living with their bed-ridden grandmother and they are beautiful boys...who with education will do so well in life. I know it may sound as though i think everyone is wonderful, but in reality, there are always a handful in life like this whom helping really does feel right for.
We cant help the whole 800,000 in the slum, but we can help a few...and we will.
So Debbie, Elaine, and Nina, your donations will go towards covering the costs of school fees. In general we estimate one High School education to cost Ksh50,000 ($1351.00 NZD) per year...so eventually we hope to be able to help all 3 boys.
Their story is complex, and interesting...and you'll see for yourself in the film. But for now you may have to trust my word that they are worth it :)
Thanks so much - and to my family who are thinking of buying me anything for Xmas, please don't! I have enough. Just donate to this family - that will make my 2007 worth starting on the right foot.
Love the AGT team.

Interview with Kim Choe - host from 95bfm, The Wire

Host Kim Choe from The Wire, bfm interviewed Q on 18th December 2008, about our experience so far filming A Grandmother's Tribe in Kenya - listen to the interview here...

http://95bfm.com/default,18,bcasts.sm;jsessionid=679AE95B6EF27AA8EEA52410ECE4BBAC?cast=3852

A story about a couple of New Zealanders with a production company called Borderless Productions. Qiujing Wong and
Dean Easterbrook's are currently in Kenya, filming footage for a documentary called "A Grandmother's Tribe". Qiujing is
on the line from Nairobi, to offer an insight into the project. See http://www.borderlessproductions.com/a_grandmothers_tribe/index.html.

Kibera, Africa's largest slum

After only ONE day so far filming in Kibera, African's largest slum, I can tell you that slum life really is something to be experienced. I have to admit that before we started this morning, i felt some angst about entering this home to 800,000 people after three people were killed there in a political dispute yesterday. But politics is a far cry from the world the poverty stricken people move in...they live in basic conditions...today we spent the whole day with a granny and her 9 children who live in the space of about 2 x SUV's put together. I dont know how they fit! But they do, and they are amazing people - not becasue they survived, but because despite the horrific conditions they're in, they dream of education...becoming doctors and pilots...they define love and hope for us as soon as we ask, and they are perfectly in tune with their situation. The only thing I am left wondering is how they can be helped...and I am convinced that through our contacts here, we can help them go to school. The teenage boys especially, can literally be saved if we send them to high school! Sounds crazy, but school saves kids totally from getting into the wrong hands...gangs, drugs, alcohol and it goes on. For the rest of the week, I'll keep researching the "how" - it is the beginning of an interesting journey in slum life.
Love the AGT team

A message from Nina Petrowsky...

Dear Q and Dean

Now that Christmas is drawing near and shopping malls are turning into nightmares, I wonder if us city people have forgotten all about the true meaning of life and happiness! I, for one, find it very easy to get swept away with the hustle and bustle of spending up large for your loved ones during this festive season - until I read your blog! It's amazing how much further money goes over there, with all the good work you guys are doing for the grandmothers and their kids. It brings tears of joy to my eyes and happiness butterflies to my stomach (thanks Qiulae) - it's the most wonderful feeling in the world! I want to share this feeling with my family and friends this Christmas. So instead of buying them average gifts that they may or may not like, I'm going to gift my very modest Christmas budget for you two angels to put to better use. So Margaret Malcolm, Qiujing Wong, Dean Easterbrook, Qiuchee Wong, Qiulae Wong, Jilyin Wong, Amporn Saepur-Petrowsky, Sonia Petrowsky, Laurent Haumonte, Jurgen Speck, Lamduan Speck, Abigail Scollay, Christine Lin and Cayden Lin - this is my Christmas present to you all! I hope it will also bring tears of joy to your eyes and happiness butterflies to your stomachs. Who said money can't buy happiness?

Merry Christmas!

Luv,
Nina

Urban life & meeting Nicholas!

Hi from Nairobi again...firstly thank you ever so much Nina for your comment on our previous posting. It is beautifuil and your Christmas thoughts are so appreciated! I know there is already a need in the village. Granny #2 is waiting for her home to be built so when it rains she doesnt get soaked, and there are needs for borehols badly. Not to mention to help the grannies' grandchildren go to secondary school, and not be school dropouts.
Today, on our "in between filming" day, we met Nicholas, a friend of Roz's and saw first hand what a little support can do to make a boy into an awesome man. He is now 25 and has no use of legs. He is on crutches, has been schooled with the support of many, and is about to gradutate with awesome skills in poetry and literature. He wants to be a teacher! And coincidentally, he comes from the village near where we've been working!!!! So, we hope to create more connections - it would be great to encourage as many people to stay in the villages rather than become urbanised. With so many living in slums, city life has not proved itself to be much for young people. Thats why I think what's going on in the village is incredible!!!
All our love Q xx

On our way to Narobi...in nairobi

We've stopped off to meet Josephine and the Hope for Life Centre in Nakuru...and the work she has done to bring together orphaned children and their caregivers (grannies, aunts, etc) in one place and empower them to a better future is really inspiring. Josephine has done this with some help from a few great people in Canada and all over the world. Infact it was Roz Shepherd and Debbie Riopel who told me all about her work which prompted us to stop off. We interviewed the grannies about the changing times that have brought about all the issues they face - which of course including losing their children!

More soon when we are in Nairobi. I am already starting to notice the effects of urbanisation on this country.

Love the AGT teamx

Emmanuel

This morning at breakfast we had just brought little emmanuel in for a second check up at the public hospital in Busia and he was turned away from an x-ray for the second time saying they had to let him use the medication first to try heal. And as we were treating him to probably his first ever feed in a hotel let alone city, he had chest pain, and weeped so quietly it made me so sad. And so Dean and I are going to use the money Charles Tsai has given to cover the cost of a private check up so hopefully he will be seen to sooner. Sadly cute emmanuel - all of 8 years - nearly died when his crazed uncle threw him on rocks in a fit of rage. The uncle was HIV positive and has since died and so have E's parents. His granny now looks after him.
So we will do all we can to help one person and make it as good as we can...and of course take all our love from friends and family with us along the way! It's a very rewarding journey albeit a bit heartbreaking at times.
The film will tell you more about this little guy and his story here...
Lots of love the AGT team

View story on Daryn Kagan's site

Daryn Kagan, US news anchor and tv personality has launched a site where she tells stories of hope and possibility. She has covered our story and you may watch her video at http://www.darynkagan.com/world/index.html (in the world section).

Thanks Daryn for your support!

xx Q

Coming together

The best thing we ever did was come back here and spend more time with the grannies. They are so awesome. We've been with them while they weave mats (their teacher is teaching them pro bono) and sell to make money to send their grandchildren to high school. Primary is free.
And on top of that we've had a chance to spend more time with Frida, and tomorrow we'll be able to check out the results of the xray we helped one of the kids get. I wont be able to tell you the outcome - that you'll have to wait for the film to see what its all about.
I had a bit of a tear in my eye today though as we said good bye to some of them. They come from so far to meet us - walking around 1-2 hours each way. And to them its no big deal!
Best wishes to you all!...AGT teamx

Change of plans

We're in Kisumu and have had a wee change of plans. We had expected to be here for 4 or so days but after one day yesterday with 3 grannies and some locals, it is a challenge to find where the hope lies. Understandably, life here in an urban centre is complex - poverty, disease, corruption and all sorts of things make it hard to capture the grandmothers' voices. They are less forthcoming.

BUT WOW, now that we've seen this, we can really see that there is so much hope in the village! The contrasts are amazing - the people there ask for so little and we feel that our help on behalf of our friends and family is so worthwhile there - it really is.

Having susie with us (our resident granny) has been awesome. She is a rockstar. And felix is very knowledgable about the local ins and outs. He is great at cautioning us on what to do and how to be. We dont want to offend people or cause problems anywhere.

So right now we're bound back for the village - Kimberley (from Canakiwi) has kindly offered to support the building of an acerage for all the village women to work on to buld a sustainable existence for the farm. So with that news, we will take ourselves back and build it with them.

Keep the emails and support coming - these people are truly worth it!!!

Lotsa love us xx

Everyday life...

Yesterday we were driving along the road after having wrapped all our filming in the village in Busia, when we stumbled over a woman sitting in the gutter on the country road. We stopped when we realised she had blood all over her and discovered she had just miscarried. She had started having pains at home and was walking to the "hospital" when it all happened too soon. So we put her and her very confused young husband in the van, leaving behind a puddle of blood, and headed for the dispensary. Unbelievably when we got there, the nurse turnd us away saying we had to take her to hospital. Then when we got to the hospital, which would have taken her hours to walk to, they ere charging to see her. Fortunately between susie and us we were able to cover it, but the point here is that health and sanitation is not available, and one of the things that are being worked on is to be able to make this possible for people in villages.
Today we're in Kisumu and will be filming grannies in the slums from tomorrow onwards. It was sad to farewell Frida, but we know now she is so much stronger for have had a little help from friends.
More soon
Love the AGT team x

Giving...

I wanted to add a note about giving and how practical it can be. For example...the $250 that qiuchee and nina just donated to the project was able to buy the food I mentioned in the earlier post for the 30 grannies. And that was MORE than enough to last a very long time.
The next thing they will need is a bore hole - for water! Its probably the biggest problem facing these village type communities.
Love Q xx