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81min - Kenya - 2019
A 94 year-old Grandmother with a fearless spirit must overcome dangerous accusations of witchcraft that are coming from within her own family. Her grandson Karisa, travels home from the city to investigate, and it gradually emerges who sent the threatening letter and why.
What the critics say...
"An effective, emotionally immediate debut feature by Kenyan
wife-and-husband team Maia Lekow and Christopher King...
The Letter paces its storytelling with organic patience,
but also a clear flair for drama."
- Variety Read full review
"Left me on tenterhooks"
- Ngugi wa Thiong'o, Renowned Kenyan novelist
"Lekow and King deserve praise for their balanced and empathetic look at a contested tradition. The Letter is both a story of complex familial dispute, and a tale of everyday class, religious and education contestations in contemporary Kenya."
- Africa is a Country Read full review
"A deeply moving story told with sincerity and honesty"
- Arit Okpo, CNN African voices
WATCH THE TRAILER
Filmed with a gentle pace and incredible closeness, The Letter is an intimate family portrait that ascends into a dramatic climax of shakespearean proportions.
Karisa’s city-life is interrupted when his Grandma back home is called a witch. Returning to his rural village to investigate, he finds a frenzied mixture of consumerism and Christianity is turning hundreds of families against their elders, branding them as witches as a means to steal their ancestral land.
As Karisa delicately navigates between his disputing aunties and uncles, the love for his Grandmother and her fearless spirit must overcome the imminent danger of the accusations against her.
The inevitable universal theme of how land is divided when an elder dies, is entangled by the chaotic mixture of traditions of the past with the newly imposed influence of western values and religion. The understated power of women, alongside the resilience of family and community shines above all else, despite the growing threat of greed and inter-generational alienation.
At a time when our elderly are now more vulnerable than ever, with global lock-downs forcing families either together, or further apart, The Letter offers a poignant study into the meaning of family in the age of the individual, and the fragility of our relationships with those from which we came.
The Filmmakers
Maia Lekow (Kenyan) and Chris King (Australian living in Kenya for 13 years) are an award winning, husband and wife co-directing team. Their feature-documentary debut, The Letter was filmed over 6 years at the coast of Kenya, and has been a profound journey of self-discovery especially for Maia, whose coastal heritage was an enigma for most of her life, having been born and raised in Nairobi city, some 600km away.
Maia is also a prominent Kenyan musician (performing with her band Maia & The Big Sky), and she has composed an original score featuring her hypnotising vocals woven into the rhythms and everyday sounds of the tropical landscape. Together with Chris's vivid cinematography, the duo have created an emotionally rich, multi-layered insight into the Kenya of today, which is sure to be bestowed as a centre-piece amongst East Africa's new wave of documentary cinema.
Click below to listen to The Letter's Official Soundtrack (currently in-progress) composed by Maia Lekow & Ken Myhr
The Team
Directors: Maia Lekow & Chris King
Editor: Ricardo Acosta C.C.E & Chris King
Composers: Maia Lekow & Ken Myhr
Exec Producers: Judy Kibinge, Cynthia Kane & Peter Mudamba
Contact
Maia // +254 721 348 650 // maia.vonlekow@gmail.com
Chris // + 254 726 759 262 // circleandsquare@gmail.com
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