SENAVA - Sierra Leone Mudslide Recovery Film

Hello World!

I have been filming together with our team in Sierra Leone and have been following the individual stories of the film's characters who were directly affected by the mudslide. They are spread out among five displacement camps, which were erected around the city to act as temporary shelters. Unfortunately, the support provided by government to those affected by the mudslide has been inconsistent and insufficient. Although the government once publicly promised to provide a free apartment for each affected family, it has become clear that this is not their plan. There have been many reports of relief items being stolen by the government and sold to the public.

The timing of the mudslide was devastating as we were just beginning to emerge from the Ebola outbreak recovery, which was complicated by politicised accusations of government corruption. The mudslide relief effort is following the same path. The atmosphere is also now highly charged as we enter an election season.  We will continue to document what happens in regards to the governments relief efforts and support of everyone affected.

In Africa, the concept of being an environmentalist is quite foreign, literally taught to us by foreign NGO’s. It is not a concept, at least in Sierra Leone, that has been embraced by our government, despite them constantly saying in speeches that they want to develop our tourism sector. But I believe for the everyday man in Sierra Leone and in much of Africa, we are all environmentalists. We practice conservation and are creative and resourceful with the goods we purchase. We tend our gardens mindfully, we respect our environment and feel close to nature. I have always felt close to nature. Each and every season comes with its own unique experience with different fruits that we only have the chance to eat at a certain period in the year.

The overpopulation in our cities has created lot of concern for me however. Many informal settlements have sprung up in freetown. Some even estimate that over 50% of the city is living in these slum areas. Unfortunately, it has been a while since I have seen the many lizards that invade our outdoor kitchen and guava trees, and the sounds of frogs and crickets at night are long gone from my memory.

Directing this film will be one of my biggest challenges, as I seek to bring more insight into a topic that is so real but has been denied by the politicians and is also not taken seriously by the poor, nor the very rich corporations that seek to take advantage of nature for their own personal benefits.

Sierra Leone’s history of man’s invasion of the forest for settlement and agricultural purpose has a very violent background. On the 4th of August in 2004, a ministry of lands official Mr. Ken Moore was killed by people who had grabbed conservation lands for their own purposes. Most of these people are poor caretakers who are securing the properties of their rich and well to do bosses.

The story challenges my creative ability and will definitely give me the inspiration to attempt new levels of creativity, thus improving the African cinematic landscape and setting the bar for others to follow.  Any donation you can give to help us achieve our goals with this film would be greatly appreciated. Thank you for your support and for sharing this project with your community.

- Arthur Pratt