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Film links Tanzania and W.Va. State

Sunday August 4, 2002

By Marina Hendricks
STAFF WRITER

These days, Danny Boyd is taking the concept of living his work to new heights.

Ever since the filmmaker returned from Tanzania on July 2, his home has served as an editing studio. He and a small crew have hovered over computers and monitors in the dining room, working on a short film called “Duara” that was shot on location in Tanzania.

“It’s been a nine-day slumber party — marathon editing,” he said on a recent afternoon during a short break. “These guys are sleeping in shifts.”

Last year, Boyd secured a grant of nearly $20,000 from the Fulbright Legacy Fund’s Alumni Initiative Awards program for a project involving the University of Dar es Salaam in Tanzania. He calls the project “TeleDrum,” in keeping with the African approach to filmmaking as a means of conveying a message.

An assistant professor of communications at West Virginia State College and a Fulbright scholar in 1998-1999, he taught the first filmmaking and screenwriting classes at UDSM. While there, he mentored a student named Richard Ndunguru.

Before he left Tanzania, Boyd promised Ndunguru that he would not forget him. He fulfilled that promise this summer, tapping Ndunguru — now on the UDSM faculty — to direct “Duara,” a drama with an underlying message about AIDS prevention. Ndunguru accompanied Boyd back to West Virginia to edit the film.

“He was my student when I was there and now he’s an instructor in the department, which is lovely to see,” Boyd said.

Ndunguru returned the compliment, saying, “To work with my professor — to me, it was something to be very proud of.”

Boyd, fellow WVSC communications Assistant Professor Steve Gilliland and student Hugh Canada went to Tanzania on June 4 to assist with the shooting of “Duara” as well as a “making of” film titled “Sound the Drum” (in honor of TeleDrum). In the months leading up to their arrival, UDSM students prepared for the shoot under the direction of Fulbright scholar Kendall Moore.

Students studied filmmaking theory and wrote scripts to complement the “Ishi” awareness campaign sponsored by the Tanzania Commission on AIDS. The campaign stresses the message “you can’t tell by looking.” Partners in the film project include Johns Hopkins University’s center for communications programs, Healthscope Tanzania and the US Agency for International Development.

“[Moore] had the students write these scripts and then we juried them,” Boyd said. “I think I got the last one the day before we left. We knew we were going to do a narrative film. Steve and I had our favorites, and then we got together with Richie and finalized our choice.”

The script the three selected, written by Delphine Njewele, tells the story of Yusufu, a young man who looks back over his life as he sits in a health-care clinic waiting for test results. The film details Yusufu’s relationship with a young woman named Mariam and how it went sour because of her affair with an older man. Students from UDSM were cast as some of the characters in the film.

The word “duara” means circle, Boyd explained — an appropriate title given the film’s plot. “It’s a tragic story of two schoolkids who are in love,” he said. “It’s just a vicious circle. Everybody thinks they’re safe, but they’re not.”

When Ndunguru returns to Tanzania around Sept. 1, he will take with him the master edits of both “Duara” and “Sound the Drum.”

“The primary market is Tanzanian television, and then they’ll have screenings around the country,” Boyd said. “Certainly, [they will go] on the film festival circuit. The American premiere will be at the West Virginia International Film Festival. We’re going to make it available to African countries.”

Ndunguru, who hopes to come back to West Virginia for graduate work some day, said he thinks “Duara” will be well received in Tanzania.

“Seeing is believing. When people see something, it’s easier to believe. When people go and see it, it stays in their minds for quite a long period of time.

“AIDS is an issue within our society,” he added. “Releasing such a movie will highlight some issues. It will remind people what the issues are. I am sure it will have a great impact.”

To contact staff writer Marina Hendricks, use e-mail or call 348-4881.