The Voice of 650 Million Times One

The movie The voice of 650 million times one tells the story of disabled people facing HIV and AIDS. It is a portrait of a number of courageous people who, despite prejudice and social exclusion, continue to fight for their rights.

European filmmaker Marijn Poels won an international film award in Canada with his VSO documentary “The Voice of 650 Million Times One”. During the award ceremony in Calgary he renounced his award and waived it to those he filmed in the Kibera Slum in Kenya.

In Nairobi, Poels hands over the award to Robert and Pamela Sabwami, two people with a visual impairment living in Kibera. Despite corruption, bureaucracy, gangs and cartels they build a solid monument, together with the local artist Ernest Muyonga, in which they integrate the award.

Nonwithstanding the appreciation gleaned from the film award, the inhabitants of Kibera are obviously more interested in money. A distrust of the intention of NGOs exists there due a basic suspicion generated by the political and bureaucratic actions where the people' down the lane' are barely involved.

The documentary will be exhibited at the Paris Short Film Festival in May as part of the 2017 Official Selection. See www.psff.eu for programme mid-April.

The film will be screened at Berlin Short Film Festival (berlinshort.com) in July 2017 where it will compete as nominee in the category of Best Short Doc.