Seko Shamte: Shattering ceilings uplifts Bongo film to new heights

Not many Tanzanian films make it into the big screen, but Seko Shamte’s ‘Binti’ film, Swahili for young lady managed to secure a cinematic spotlight at home, abroad and now on global streaming platform, Netflix

A Swahili drama film revolving around four Tanzanian women Tumaini, Angel, Stella and Rose, who are unknowingly connected through their ability to persevere extreme life hardships, explores a contemporary view of womanhood, a searing introspection into the sometimes painful world that a woman could find herself in.

After breaking the edges from Zanzibar international Film Festival, Jozi Film festival and Pan African Film Festival last year March 8, Seko Shamte continues shaking and moving the film industry to new heights as Binti will today Friday January 7 stream on Netflix, adding another milestone in the Bongo film industry.

It is quite rare to find a film with four strong female leads and even less likely to find not only a woman in the director’s chair but also an all-female production team.

While we are preparing ourselves to witness history being made, The Beat brings you the story of a woman behind such success.

Seko Shamte, a Tanzanian filmmaker, writer and director of various film works, who also owns a production company known as Alkemist Media, has been in the film industry for more than 20 years.

Ms Seko also was the director of the films such as “Mkwawa: Shujaa wa Mashujaa Hehe hero, Team Tanzania, Jikoni na Marion, a television cooking show, Home Coming and Mid Night.”

The 40-year-old filmmaker is no stranger to creating visual works of art. She has always admired journalists and filmmakers from a very young age to such an extent that she knew what she wanted to be one day – an artiste.

The vibrant director says the deal with Netflix was secured early before the launch of the films back in March last year and thanks to their distribution film for crafting such a booming strategy.

“We were lucky to secure international distribution before premiering the film. Our distributors helped us craft a strategy for release, film festivals and that caught the eye of Netflix. The obstacles were mainly in production as we had a distributor,” says Ms Seko

She adds that for Bongo films to breakthrough into international grounds it is crucial to have distribution companies handle to the business.

Creating ‘Binti’ film was both exciting and challenging for Ms Seko but the film maker turned challenges into opportunity to learning a thing or two.

“Where do I start?” she says and continues, “My biggest lesson was to not compromise on my scenes and do more takes. To do that I’d need more time. We shot Binti in 21 days and from now on I am going to try to shoot films over 30+ days.”

Over the years, Tanzania’s film industry has been consuming content from Hollywood, India and Nigeria, while the country’s films referred to as bongo movies are characterized by low production budgets, short schedules, on camcorders and mass released in DVD formats.

Agitated about the film industry, Seko forenamed ‘budget and production expertise’ as holdbacks for most of the production in our country to reach the stars.

“Production is extremely expensive and we need more money. Also better technical expertise in production. I think everything holding us back boils down to money,” she says

Other than that, the film industry in the country is filled up with potential as Tanzania has a beautiful landscape for filming, plenty of creative people and good talented actors and actresses.

The film

‘Binti’ displays the modern day lives of Tanzanian women in the city of Dar es Salaam as they strive to seek fulfilment in their lives. The film unfolds in four chapters and according to Shamte, it was her dream come true to work with this group of women.

“It’s not every day you get a chance to tell these honest, dynamic stories about the female experience and I really credit my fellow producers for creating space for this type of storytelling,” she shares.

She adds that working closely with her actors, some for whom this was their first role, made her proud of what the cast have accomplished.

“Tumaini is my favourite character inside Binti. I can identify with how hard she is trying to make it against the forces that are pulling back. She is also trying to make it the RIGHT way - which is not easy,” she asserts.

The Character, Tumaini, is a young entrepreneur who runs a mini-supermarket, making her own ‘chapattis’ and riding a bicycle selling eggs.

We also see Angel, a young lady who also attended the same school with Tumaini.

Angel runs a bridal salon while one of the other two ladies struggles with her son, while the other faces infertility issues

The story was first written by a young woman named Maria Shoo who won a screen-writing competition hosted by Black Unicorn Studios in 2018/19, then the film was re-written by Angela Ruhinda and Seko Shamte, and was produced by the two sisters, Alinda Ruhinda and Angela Ruhinda from Black Unicorn Studios.

As the production team recounts, the Binti film faced many post-production delays due to the global corona-virus pandemic. But, the film got its premiere at the Pan-African Film Festival in March last year 2021.

The Binti cast and crew worked tirelessly for a long time - and, this is a win-win situation, because this is only the beginning of a fruitful and rewarding journey for Tanzanian film makers.