In 2018, Shiro Koinange, a celebrated novelist, and Angela Wachuka, a visionary publisher, quit their jobs to restore a dilapidated colonial-era library in bustling downtown Nairobi. Horrified at the condition of the historical building, they successfully lobbied city officials to take over the management of the library. With zero experience in building, the pair find themselves with a gargantuan task ahead. With an undying passion for books and finding funds where least expected, they activate an army of homegrown artists, intellectuals, tech developers, architects and writers, all energized to transform the space into a technological hub ofcreativity and learning for future generations.
Biography:
Christopher King is an award-winning filmmaker who has lived and worked in Kenya since 2007. He founded Circle & Square Productions with his wife Maia Lekow in Nairobi. A fluent Swahili speaker, Chris has worked on the bleeding edge of Nairobi's creative scene for more than 14 years as a freelance cinematographer, editor, director, producer and video artist, winning an African Movie Academy Award for editing. His first feature, The Letter, was Kenya's official submission to the 93rd Academy Awards. How to Build a Library premiered at Sundance in the World Cinema Documentary Competition.
Maia Lekow is a renowned Kenyan musician and filmmaker. She was named a goodwill ambassador for UNHCR on World Refugee Day and has received an African Movie Academy Award for her song ‘Uko Wapi'. Working together with husband Christopher King, their films are deeply personal, multi-layered character studies. Their debut feature-documentary The Letter explores the inter-generational conflict currently happening within Maia's father's homeland, coastal Kenya. Maia and Chris’ second feature documentary, How to Build a Library, premiered at Sundance in the World Cinema Documentary Competition.
