Last week at a private screening of “Gun Runners” hosted at Tribe Hotel by the film’s writer/director, Anjali Nayar, we witnessed a local cinematic breakthrough on several levels.
The film busted through a familiar local genre; it avoided the pitfalls of many local documentaries dealing with political and/or developmental issues; most importantly, it delivered a truly universal, human story that represents a harbinger of a growing global market for African stories.
Filmed over the course of nine years and edited for over a year, the epic central story follows two childhood friends and Pokot age mates who leave behind harsh circumstances for lives as cattle raiders. When faced with a chance to participate in a local “peace race”, they each drop their guns to pursue professional running careers. Their choices lead to dramatically different outcomes, test the weight of their friendship, their family relationships and ultimately their will to live. And the ending could not be more surprising or more satisfying.
“Gun Runners is the Kenyan version of the American Dream story. (Lead characters) Arile and Matanda — both irrepressible in their own right — are up against community and family pressures, politics, competition and a mindset created during their formative years as warriors. The film is a story of breaking through/breaking out (of one’s circumstances), and of course the reality of how hard that is to do,” says Nayar.
Though the filmmakers use the classic, local genre of ‘running’ to tell this tale, it diverts from the trappings of most sporting films that have come out of Kenya. Rather, the documentary unfolds as a love story between two friends, and the sport of running becomes a canvas on which the stark dramas and maddening comedies of life unfold.
The filmmakers could have chosen to delve into the corrupt politics of the Pokot and Turkana regions; how fat cat politicians bend an unknowing and largely uneducated populace to their will through broken promises. Thankfully, Nayar steered away from any soap-boxing, and the film is the better for it. In the end, these points are well made directly through the voices of the characters.
“I wanted to tell this story because it felt honest and fresh: it’s a story about dreams and life, friendship and family, rather than about the social justice issues, which form the storylines of most documentaries from the Global South,” says Nayar. “Gun Runners is a very Kenyan story, but also if you strip away the details, it’s a universal story about two friends trying to overcome the hand they were dealt in life.”
In this way, the simplicity of the tale lets the film breathe. It gives space for the viewer to connect and bond with characters and experience a life, most likely, they will never know. The span of time used to make this film also means the documentary is able to hit a nearly ten-year arch of character story, and the result is a rich tapestry of events and emotions.
The photography, mostly by D.O.P., Joan Poggio, is feature film grade. Through many of the character building scenes, the viewer is transported directly inside the picture to a seemingly fictional world of tangible warmth. Poggio, is creating a pile of great work locally, including an anticipated long form documentary on Just A Band.
The film’s subject matter, its universality and its Canadian director attracted the Canadian Film Board, which became the main financier of the project. This is important to note, because as Nayar puts it, there is a lot of opportunity out there to fund great stories no matter where they originate. Sadly, however, the film received no support locally, and I’m pretty sure the Kenya Film Commission will regret not being involved in this project in some deeper way. “Gun Runners” is definitely going places.
“Gun Runners” was recently selected for Hot Docs, in Toronto, and will feature across the global festival circuit this year. Once again, because of the outside funding, Kenyans will have to wait until the film completes a Canadian premiere before being released, locally. Once it does, be sure not to miss it.
