Swim or sink for greener pastures

A better life is what everyone dreams about and to some, that can only be attained by going to Europe.

It has always turned into a perilous journey, on many occasions it is a tale that very few live to tell.

Three weeks ago heart-rending pictures of a toddler’s lifeless body washed ashore on a Turkish beach sparked horror as the cost of Europe’s growing refugee crisis hit home.

The images of a tiny child lying face down in the surf at one of Turkey’s main tourist resorts has put a human face on the dangers faced by tens of thousands of desperate people who risk life and limb to seek a new life in Europe.

Observers are unanimous that this particular image rammed home the horrors faced by those fleeing poverty, war and conflict in the Middle East and Africa.

But as the world concentrates on the refugee crisis, this is a story too common on the African continent.

A Pan African film project featuring actors from across the continent has taken a step in highlighting the crisis.

‘Sink or Swim’ is a story of irregular migration, sexual exploitation and modern day slavery that is rarely told.

The film aims at discouraging African youths against migration which has led to human trafficking.

The film is set mainly in the Sahara Desert, with other scenes being shot in Ghana, Nigeria and East Africa.

“It is a tale of gruesome stories of some young men and women from across the continent who leave home, in the search for greener pastures abroad only to turn up with horror stories,” says Prince Richard, the executive producer .

The plot

Kwame, a Ghanaian in his mid-thirties is forced to make the hard choice of embarking on a journey to Europe, through the desert, after all attempts to make it fail.

This is when an old friend, Abdul, a trafficker, makes him the offer. Kwame finds himself in the midst of several other migrants from neighbouring African countries, and on several instances, plays the role of advocate as he confronts the unscrupulous trafficker, ‘Killa.’ His dream is shattered when he gets deported.

According to Richard, these searches are always useless and the relentless pursuit has usually ended in heartbreak and shattered dreams.

He adds: Beyond the obvious indication of the African film industry’s attempt at employing the highest quality of tools in telling its stories, the African can project his challenges from a personal experience point of view, better than any non-African film industry.

In another rejoinder Malaika, a Kenyan woman leaves her ailing husband in Tanzania, together with her teenage daughter, with the hopes of a better life in Italy.

She is forced to make this hard choice since her husband cannot support the family, and all her attempts to make ends meet seem to be failing.

She embarks on the treacherous journey with her daughter, ‘Binti’, sadly, Malaika’s dreams are crushed, when she suffers a scorpion bite, which leaves her virtually dead. At the final transit station, she is forced to make the hard choice of handing over her daughter to Kwame since she can no longer continue with the journey; left for the dead.

The story features actors such as Adjetey Anang as Kwame, Ruth Maingi as Malaika, Seun Akindele as Killa, Raymond Ofula as Awal, Mzee Chillo and many other stars on the African continent.

Actors speak out

Speaking exclusively to The Beat this week, celebrated actor Raymond Ofula believes that this is would be the turning point as the film is bound to create an appetite for more continental films and in the process spur growth in the film industry.

“By bringing together a Pan African cast and crew to tell this tragic African story, this film will capture the interest, curiosity and imagination of the continental audience,” he says.

Ruth Maingi who plays a lead role in ‘Swim or Sink’, adds: The tragic events in the film of Africans dying on their way to Europe to escape hardship will, hopefully, prick our collective conscience about our duty to society and more importantly, how we look at ourselves as Africans.

Adjetey Anang who also spoke to The Beat corroborates Raymond and Ruth’s statement as he says that it is important to take ownership of not only telling the stories but how actors use the medium of cinema.

“By this project and its medium of transmission, we can be true and open about our dark challenges voicing them out for therapeutic processes as well as a means to tackling root causes of such problems,” says Adjetey.

According to Adjetey, although governments might not have done much to end this crisis, ordinary creative people, the media, in the form of cinema, can address such issues, and thus influence a positive change.

“The objective of this project is to tackle the root cause of this issue of illegal migration from an African perspective, and most importantly, to serve as a deterrent to our African youth who still believe that it is the only way to make it in life,” he says.

At the end of the day he believes this one project could likely change how African cinema is viewed elsewhere.

“The African movie industry has for a while now has been downplayed. This is due to the kind of stories being told; lack of originality, poor screenplay, poor performance of actors, quality of equipment, has all been questioned,” Adjetey notes.

As agreed by most of the major players both cast and crew, ‘Sink or Swim’ however, is a deviation from this norm.

“This is in originality and realness of the story, quality of screenplay, creativity of the overwhelming pan-African cast and in the quality of equipment. For a story being told about Africa, and by an all-African cast and crew, ‘Sink or Swim’ will be an inspiration to the potentials of African cinematography. It seeks to change African cinema by several folds.”

The film that has been screen written by Anna Hanson has been endorsed by the International Office for Immigration as an educational tool.

Featuring Tanzania’s Ahmed Olotu aka Mzee Chillo the film brings together cast and crew from Kenya, Togo, Ghana, Nigeria, Zambia and Ivory Coast. It is set to premiere in major cities around the world as well as countries where the cast comes from.