My interview with Ignatius

I interviewed Ignatius Juma, star of the film “Kibera Kid,” age 14 at his school Little Prince Primary School, in Olympic Kibera. Ignatius is a 14 year old, native Kiberian (he currently resides in Katwikera) who recently starred as the title role in the Kenya International Film Festival’s acclaimed “Kibera Kid” (one of the films receiving the most print attention). I went to his school, Little Prince Primary School in Olympic Kibera, at which he is a standard seven student, to hopefully find, and interview him. Born in the rift valley, Ignatius is a Luhya, and a Christian who now lives in the slum with his mother and five younger siblings.
Ignatius began acting in 2002 (throughout our interview he continually made specific reference to dates) in a play at his school. His first role was as Pinocchio in an adaptation of the Disney story. He says that he loved “how you can imagine that you are somebody else, and how you can pretend to live someone else’s life.” He has never taken a formal acting class, however is a playwright, and very much likes writing stories and plays about, “people who do things that they love.”
One day in 2005 he was playing soccer with some friends in a field in Katwikera when a Muzungu came by who said he was a film director, and asked if any of the boys could sing. Many of the boys sang for him, including Ignatius (who says he felt fear of the Muzungu, but did it anyways) who was chosen for the title role in the film “Kibera Kid.” However, at the time, Ignatius says he didn’t really know what he was going to be doing, as the guy just told them he needed someone to sing. When he found out it was a film he was so excited. He said his teachers, “really supported me because they knew I could act. Now, in the school, I’m known as an actor!”
The film took nine days to shoot, working from 6 a.m.-6 p.m., and during 4 of the days Ignatius was very sick, but he asserted, “I don’t think that anyone who sees the film can tell!” During the process, the actors were not paid, but given food. Ignatius says that he always thought, “if you act in a movie you get very rich,” which wasn’t the case, but he says the film has really changed his life in other ways. Before he shot the film he loved movies. He watched many movies from the US and Nigeria whenever he got a chance (his favorite actors are Arnold Schwarzenegger, Aram Sinoa (Nigerian) and Desmond Eliot--also Nigerian,) however he had never seen a Kenyan film, and in fact did not think that such a thing existed. He says that whenever he watched these movies from abroad he would wonder if, “I will ever get a chance to do that too…”
Well he got his wish. His role in the film has made Ignatius a symbol of hope for the Kibera community, as well as changed many facets of his own life. To date, “Kibera Kid” has won 7 awards world wide, including awards in Bali, LA and Ignatius has personally received awards from the Kenyan Award for “Best Actor in a Film,” as well as the Kampala Film Festival Award for “Best Actor in a Film.” He says that he has, “become much more popular,” and recounted his amazement when he watched the film as it was screened at the French Cultural Center surrounded by all of his classmates (his entire grade attended). He said that, “almost all my age mates, well they couldn’t believe that you can live in Kibera and do that.”
However the impact of this experience extends far beyond popularity. First of all, the Kibera Kid’s story is very personal to Ignatius. The “kid” faces many hardships, poverty, hunger, and hopelessness—in addition to an abusive mother. Ignatius says that he was really “just acting out my own life experience. Like at first my mom wasn’t very happy about the film. My mom, well she was very harsh to me when I was young, but that was just a normal thing. And when I got this movie, well she didn’t ever really think that I could do something like this. But I knew that I couldn’t give up on this chance because I knew that if I lost this, I would lose everything.” Now he says his mother is very proud of him, and that the whole community has rallied behind him and his family because they, “really liked seeing a movie about their own lives. And they feel very proud that I am in it, because now they think, maybe I can do more than I thought I could too.” Ultimately, Ignatius hopes that this film will “not only help people in Kibera by more world wide awareness, but also maybe help people in another slum to have hope.”
In the future Ignatius hopes to “take what I’ve learned and be able to sometime act in a movie again.” However he thinks that just being an actor in Kenya isn’t a feasible living. His friend chimes in to say, “it’s a special job.” and another one adds, “and the Kenya movie industry, well it’s just starting out.” Ignatius adds that now, the only people who can make acting a stable job are comedians on TV shows like “Vioja Mahakamani.” But right now, he thinks that the industry, “has a lot of growing to do. And needs help.” In the meantime, he aspires to be, “an actor, a lawyer, or the president.”