Kabwe Ka Makuba

Description of Project:

This project is a documentary about Caleb, an optimistic and persistent activist who advocates for the health of his community in Kabwe, Zambia. Kabwe has been named one of the most toxic towns in the world because of lead poisoning dating back to a colonial-era lead mine, allegedly run (for the majority of its operation) by a South-African mining company, Anglo-American. The mine operations resulted in decades of child lead poisoining. The effects of lead on children are severe, ranging from low IQ, inability to concentrate, stunted growth, and even seizures and death. Although the Kabwe crisis is a serious issue, little has been done to correct it, and as of now, no parties have been held accountable. During our time in Kabwe, we documented Caleb's life and activism, and were granted access to many places where the lead pollution is severe.

Methodology:

Preproduction March 2022 - December 2022: We were granted the Colorado College Documentary Exploration Grant on April 19th, 2022. While applying to the Documentary Exploration Grant, we found and contacted our cinematographer in Zambia, and we connected with Environment Africa, the organization that youth environmental activists like Caleb work for. Once in contact with Environment Africa, they put us in touch with a young woman, Mwelwa, who became our field producer. She connected us with youth activists, Sylvester and Caleb, and answered our questions and concerns. The majority of pre-production was spent researching the issue, reaching out to potential contacts and making some decisions on the creative vision of the film.

Production: We spent 12 days in production during which we interviewed activists and other community members and filmed at locations central to the lead pollution crisis such as the Kabwe canal, mine, and Makalulu (Africa's second-largest shanty compound). We used borrowed Colorado College Film Department Equipment for our filming.

Post Production: We are editing the film in Adobe Premiere Pro and aim to be finished with a final film at the end of Block 6, 2023. Thereafter, we plan on applying to film festivals, and eventually publishing the film online.

Results: We decided to make this film because we wanted to show the human impact of lead pollution in Kabwe. According to a 2018  study , “Over 95% of children in townships exposed to lead from the Kabwe mine have elevated blood lead levels, and about half of children in the townships have such high blood lead levels that they urgently require medical intervention”. Our pre-production research revealed these kind of shocking statistics while our production gave us the stories and faces behind the cold numbers. Knowing the power that film has to induce empathy, we hope that our character-driven documentary will inspire change in Kabwe. We believe that the film will not just be a story about Kabwe but also a global story about human resilience when the land we live on is under threat.

One fact we found particularly interesting was that the name  ‘Kabwe’ means smelt or ore , and the town was given this name because of its lead mine.  Having been founded in 1902  after lead and zinc deposits were discovered, the town’s identity has always been centered around its mine. Since Zambia was a British colony until 1964, the mine was initially  owned and operated by Anglo American , a colonial-era mine. Much like boomtowns in small-town America,  many Zambians moved to Kabwe for jobs and then were devastated when the land was leached of its value and poisoned . A question that we hope our film somewhat touches on is how can young people like Caleb escape the violent colonial legacy buried in the soil? We believe that in answering that question, we can also comment on the painful yet essential ways that young activists around the world are trying to correct the devastating impacts of colonialism.

Our final film will be screened in week 4 of Block 6 in Cornerstone Celeste Theatre and again in Block 8 during the Documentary Exploration Grant screening event.

Personal Impact: Making this film was an extraordinary learning experience. We learned a lot of details about lead poisoning in Kabwe and remain shocked at how a crisis this large could be allowed to happen. We ask ourselves, 'How differently would the world react if lead poisoning of this scale took place in London?' 'Why has the world let the children of Kabwe endure this crisis for generations and generations?' The making of this film was largely motivated by how infuriating these questions were for us. However, during production, we were inspired by the optimism of Caleb, the youth activist and protagonist of the film. Although we often felt overwhelmed by the scale and complexity of the issue, Caleb provided a sense of hope for us. We hope that he will do the same for the viewers of our film.

Overall, the personal connections we made during production were the most valuable aspects of this project. We are incredibly grateful to the team from Environment Africa that helped us -- Caleb, Mwelwa, Mr. Mumba, Sylvester, Noah, Mr. Chuma, and our additional crew members -- Vincent and Luke!

Next Steps: Our final doc short film will be screened in week 4 of Block 6 in Cornerstone Celeste Theatre and again in Block 8 during the Documentary Exploration Grant screening event. We plan on also screening the film in Kabwe, other parts of Zambia and hopefully in film festivals around the world. If feasible, we may attempt to make a feature-length version of the film in the future.

Thank you to the Keller Family Venture Grant for funding some of the travel costs that made this documentary possible!