The lead actor, Ignatius Juma, is a Kibera resident. We put out a call for actors, but when that didn't work, we went out on the street, walking through the slums and met him there along the roadside playing soccer. He was with a group of other boys. We talked to them them, and told them all about the project and invited them to a casting session. Ignatius was there, on time, and with a great attitude. So we chose him. Literally off the streets of Kibera, Africa's largest slum.
It wasn't our plan at the beginning, even though the story is set in Kibera. But we went looking for actors all across Nairobi and yet the ones we found who could most authentically capture the reality of Kibera came from there.
It was based on real life, the story of a security guard who was beaten up by thieves. It was a tragic situation, and we wanted to think how could this be made into something positive. What if a kid saw this, and was affected by it? That because of what he saw, he became a better person, that hope could still exist in the midst of despair. From there we started thinking...and that was the genesis of the story.
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