Priscilla Marealle: A rising star with many hats

As long as there have been movies, women are just there in making them as usual, Priscilla Marealle is one of the pioneering Tanzanian students, who showcase her technique in the brand new art form of short story movies.

Women are hugely underrepresented in the film industry as directors. However, the last decade has seen the gradual emergence of more and more female directors from all over the continent.

She doesn’t have those big gigs to run high production, but the team behind and with the help of MultiChoice and the skills she has, Priscilla is trying to show the future of art in Swahili films.

Priscilla is a young female director who got the chance to showcase the Swahili stories into movies, and premier them in a streaming service called Showmax.

After director Seko showed the women way, it’s time for the new female generation to take steps and embrace the change in the film industry after lacking some professional people.

Born in Arusha Tanzania and aged 22, Priscilla always believed in her dream to become one of the best film directors in the industry, despite her age, she never stopped showing the power of her creativity.

Her school life was moving from one country to another, after finishing secondary school at St Mary Goreti Secondary, she decided to go with the passion for the film industry and art.

“I decided to take a gap year to do what I love the most, I got the opportunity to study film at the MultiChoice talent factory which opens many doors for me,” said Priscilla.

Despite her creativity, Priscilla encounters challenges in her journey to the film industry and is about not to know anything about the film industry.

She narrates that she was fresh from high school with no information about film subjects, all she knew was her drawing passion for creating arts.

“I didn’t know all these staff, because I got the chance to be selected without much understanding about films, but that doesn’t kill the hope I have, I learn slowly so as to gain a lot of knowledge,” said Priscilla.

While at the MultiChoice talent factory, she got the chance to study online classes from the New York film academy, where she graduated as a film director and cinematographer.

It is very rare to see young female Africans penetrate in the industry of film, with much professional skills, Africans were limited in what roles they could take in film until the 1950s and 60s, when indigenous Africans began freeing themselves from the colonial rule, few women were given access to the creative process beyond acting.

For example, Director ‘Safi Faye’ is credited as the first African woman to direct a film with the release of her 1975 film Kaddu Beykat.

So, Marealle shows her fellow generations that you can be anyone you want to be if you work with passion that is the driving fuel for all dreamers.

In a series of “Colours of Africa” where all alumni from all around Africa who studied at the three hubs from Nigeria, Zambia and Nairobi, Marealle was among them.

In 2019 she created a short film called “Johari” which was among a series done by MultiChoice talent factory. The film is about a young girl, she forgets her tradition and culture after going to live abroad, so the film showcases how sometimes our culture and traditions are forgotten.

“We were given a chance to direct a short film which can be streamed officially only on showmax, the film is about a girl who is struggling to keep the family tradition”, said Priscilla.

Definitely, Johari is that kind of short film which I wish it should be the full film, in the film, I got the chance to see ‘Fevushka’, one of the dancers in bongo flava music videos.

One of the things that may help someone to keep on pushing the boundaries is the support from family and friends, this idea system helps a lot in achieving their goals. Marealle’s family and friends played a big role for her in making sure that she succeeded, every person she met and shared the vision were fully participating in making her idea come to life.

“Am happy for the family that I have and the people who surround me, what am grateful about is, no matter the idea, they are willing to support me,” said Marealle.

There are a number of people in the film industry, who are willing enough to keep uplifting Tanzania artistes who want to achieve big things in the film industry.

When in difficult times, you must make sure that you give out awareness to the people around you so that they could help you to tackle those difficulties.

Her journey didn’t end in the short film ‘Johari’, she is preparing another film which is known as ‘The Space Masai’, and the film is going to talk about the dream of a 18-year old Maasai boy to go to space.

“I grew up in the Maasai culture, that’s why I ended up using the word Masai in my next film, and the film is all about me, because being in space is one of my dreams,” said Priscilla.

Germany’s international broadcaster, Deutsche Welle (DW), gave out funds to develop a science fiction film and Priscilla was among the people who got the funds, and that money is used to go extra in the film industry.

Talking about the film industry in Tanzania, Priscilla tells the Beat that the industry is growing very fast compared to the old days, because now people want to showcase their skills.

“Our film industry is not the same as it used to be, youngsters like me want now to showcase their talent, because apart from making money, they also do it for the passion, because people love,” said Priscilla.

The plot of the film is going to be in Kisongo – Arusha because it is one of the famous regions with modern Maasai people who still keep their authentic traditions and cultures.

“I was raised in Kisongo, so as the director it gives me a broader view of the story and that’s why I am going to film this movies”, said Priscilla.