Togetherness Supreme

Filmed on location in the vast Nairobi slum of Kibera with a mostly local cast and crew, TOGETHERNESS SUPREME describes the political tensions between ethnic tribes that led to the disputed Kenyan presidential election of December 2007. American director Nathan Collett first worked with Kibera street kids on a short film in 2006. But upon returning in 2008, he discovered that many of his young friends had moved (in post-election violence, more than 1,300 Kenyans were killed, and more than 350,000 displaced). Collett and a few remaining youths started work on what would become TOGETHERNESS SUPREME, a stylish film that was screened for small groups around Kenya and won several Africa Movie Academy Awards. It centers on the lives of three young slum-dwellers-Otieno the hustler, Kamau the peace-loving artist, and Alice the preacher's daughter. As the men begin working for the ODM party, their relationship is tested by politics, tribal differences, and their mutual love of Alice. Shot on a revolutionary digital camera, TOGETHERNESS SUPREME looks stunning and its lead actors are extraordinarily charismatic amateurs. (In Kiswahili, Sheng, Kikuyu, Luo, and English with subtitles) – B.B.