WORKSHOP 3

“It’s our responsibility to make art...”

– Wanuri Kahiu

NAIROBI, KENYA, October 2025 — A city defined by its many converging currents. In Nairobi, natural beauty, political vibrancy, and a dynamic, tuned-in youth culture all contribute to the city’s ever‑expanding creative pulse. For AFMAC’s third workshop, following stops in Lagos and Tangier earlier this year, it was only fitting to convene in a place where image-making occupies a singular place within cultural and social life.

From roadside portrait studios to contemporary collectives, to thousands of youth creating TikTok dances in the city’s CBD, film and photography serve as both an archive and an instrument of self‑definition and creation in Nairobi. Artistic experimentation is inseparable from social imagination. Weddings, neighborhood gatherings, matatu art, and the choreography of public space are preserved through images and videos that move easily across formats and platforms. Connectivity via the lens, whether on a camera or a mobile phone, infuses the spirit of the city.

The theme of the Nairobi workshop was Feelings as Creative Force—an exploration of emotion as essential material and methodology in film and media arts. Led by visionary filmmakers Wanuri Kahiu and Jim Chuchu, participants were invited to consider the experiences that comprised their being as building blocks for creative imaginings. Mining their own emotions as a generative engine, they explored ways to shape and share narratives through their lived experience.

“I really hope at the end of this that people feel that they can give themselves permission to feel. And that their internal worlds ... are enough — to tackle, to face, and to create from.”

— Wanuri Kahiu

AFMAC’s partner for this workshop was DocuBox, who hosted the Collective and participating artists in Shalom House’s verdant gardens. The workshops also coincided with the NBO Film Festival, which screened more than 26 films from over 15 countries—from world premieres, African debuts, and international titles—across the city. Unseen Nairobi hosted a special screening of both Kahiu and Chuchu’s work, followed by a panel with AFMAC co-founder Mehret Mandefro.

The evening at Unseen reaffirmed that film and media art continue to be a space for community, conversation, and dreams, acting as a connective tissue for creative communities. At the end of the evening, Jim Chuchu reminded the audience that filmmaking, whether personal or collective, remains a powerful vessel for identity, memory, and possibility even in a challenging global climate.

“The time is harder, so the work is hard, so the dreams have to be stronger.”

— Jim Chuchu