Low Tide
 'Low
Tide' is a video short story taking place in Kenya. These pages
offers information about the video, background
for the story, photos, sound and videoclips.
A short story featuring Kizingo Arts Troupe,
directed by Jacob Crawfurd
Filmed on location in Mombasa and Mikindani, 1998. The 13-minute
long docu-drama is available on video and CD-rom(MPEG).
 About
the video
'Low Tide' is a short improvised docu-drama about two tough days
for the young Kenyan boy, Wataku. He looses his job and the bad
luck just won't stop. The story is triggered and inspired with incidents
from Kenya at the time of production.
The video is directed by Jacob Crawfurd in close co-operation with
an all-Kenyan crew. We hoped to bring a rare chance for Kenyans
to see a feature with focus on Kenyans and 'common' Kenyan subjects.
The producers hope this could inspire to more Kenyan storytelling
and film making. It is our first experience with making film in
Kenya - but certainly not our last. It is also our hope that the
video will have the attention of a western audience not familiar
with everyday-life in Africa.
Recording and editing was made with low-cost and light-weight
Digital Video equipment. Everything was shot in 5 days. Most scenes
were improvised by the actors in front of the camera.
 The
video has been produced by JCJ FILM in
co-operation with BFO Videoproduction (Kenya) and the Kenyan drama-group
Kizingo Arts Troupe.
View the full production credits
View videoclip
 Take
a look at a videoclip
from 'Low Tide' (Duration 1.20 approx 1.03Mb)
 Prologue
from 'Low Tide'
The story of 'Low Tide' is told by a friend of the character Wataku.
This prologue serves as an introduction to the film.
Listen
to the prologue from the soundtrack (Duration 1.15 - approx.
295kb)
-narrated by Jones Mwashighadi.
"This is our country... Here is sun, happiness and
a great nature. Here is so much you can do, but also so much that
needs to be done. We have many hopes for our nation, but this last
year has been so tough on many people. We have had ethnic clashes,
unrest before the election, El Niño, diseases and even a
bomb in the center of Nairobi. In the normal dry-season it was raining
constantly. Roads and houses were washed away leaving people with
nothing.
The low-season has been a disaster for everybody working in the
tourist business. Many hotels at the coast have been forced to close.
No one knows when they can open again. No hotels, no jobs, nothing...
I have not seen my friend Wataku for along time now. He had a good
job on a south-coast hotel. But a letter from the management spoiled
all his plans. This is the story of what happened the following
days."
  Press-release:
Low Tide
Download
press-release in PDF-format for Acrobat Reader (104 kb).
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