HOW TO BUILD A LIBRARY
Kenya, United States 2025 – Director: Maia Lekow – Co-Director: Christopher King – Original language: English, Swahili – Subtitles: English – Length: 100 min.
Two young women, Shiro Koinange and Angela Wachuka, are working to transform a colonial era library. The institution, established for Europeans in 1931, is to become a space for art and culture, education and exchange. The pair has to navigate between exhausting local politics, fundraising dinners and discussions about decolonisation. Barbara Off
German premiere
Biography
Maia Lekow is a Kenyan musician and filmmaker. She works as a director, producer and sound engineer on film and music projects. As a musician, she has toured internationally with her band ‘Maia & The Big Sky’.
Christopher King studied at the School of Creative Arts at the University of Melbourne until he moved to Nairobi in 2007. Since then he has worked as a cameraman, editor, director and producer for documentaries and feature films.
Together they founded the production company ‘Circle and Square Productions’.
Filmography (both)
THE LETTER, KE 2019, 81 min.
Nominated for the DOK.horizonte Competition – Cinema of Urgency
The films in this series tell stories from countries in transition. They are supported by ENGAGEMENT GLOBAL with funds from the BMZ and are nominated for the VIKTORIA DOK.horizonte Competition, endowed with 5,000 euros. The award donor is the Petra-Kelly-Stiftung.
Sponsored by
With funding by
No youth rating
Camera: Christopher King, Wambui Muigai, Emma Nzicka, Ronald Ronics, Nyasha Kadandara, Tomothy Mwaura, Michael Onyiego, Steve Ruiyi. Editing: Ricardo Acosta. Music: Maia Lekow, Katya Mihailova, Daniel Hoffknecht. Production: Circle&Square Productions, One Story Up, Artemis Rising Found., Foothill Prod.. Producer: Maia Lekow, Christopher King.
