Just A Band Documentary Gets Boost

A documentary film project about experimental Kenyan group, Just A Band, has been given a grant by Cinereach to continue production. Just A Band: The Movie is a project by award-winning Kenyan filmmaker, Wanuri Kahiu and Anjali Nayar.

The documentary will share a $500,000 (about Kshs. 44,000,000) grant with 21 other films from around the world. The project had earlier shared a $115,000 (about Kshs. 10,000,000) grant with six other films from Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival and Blue Ice Group in 2012.

Wanuri Kahiu’s From A Whisper swept the Africa Movie Academy Awards when it won Best Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Original Score/Soundtrack and Best Editing in 2009. She also wrote and directed the post-apocalyptic short and Kenya’s first sci-fi film, Pumzi. The film was screened around the world in major festivals including Cannes and Sundance in 2010.

Just A Band have so far released three albums (Scratch To Reveal, 82 and Sorry For The Delay) between and 2008 and 2012. The group is known for their blend of African and futuristic sounds and their videos which have received nominations including KORA Awards and Kisima Awards. In 2010, their first release off 82, Usinibore, won Record of the Year at Museke Online Africa Music Awards.

Check out details of Just A Band’s next show here.