I Owe, I Owe
BY CYNDI “MUKUMBA” GREENING, PHOENIX, ARIZONA – Last spring, I got an idea and it became a dream. My dream was to go to Africa to make a movie. I wrote a grant and talked about it in my classes and was surprised to find that other people could make that dream their own. They could find a place for themselves in my filmmaking madness. On August 8, we got on the plane with all of our hopes and mountains of gear. I look back now and realize that I am not the same person who got on that plane. The experience of making this film with these people has irrevocably changed who I have known myself to be and I owe all of THEM so much.
We had a FilmZambia Party last night. It was a chance for all of us to get together and reminisce about all that had happened and catch up with how we were all doing stateside. We reunited with the faculty who had left Lusaka after ten days and told them all about our adventures. We had a potluck with a mountain of food (we could have eaten for a week in Zambia on all that was there) and a slideshow that Mike and Shawn put together. Shortly after the slideshow, the crew gathered ‘round and surprised me with several touching gifts. There were letters of appreciation, a crew photo album, Livingstone photos, pens, a wall hanging and a book of Zambian tales. As I looked through and read through everything, I kept thinking that I should be the one showering them with gifts. I kept thinking about how much I owed each of them.
I want to publicly thank each of them for their contribution to the film. Without them, this work could not have been done. Their generous hearts and able hands took a wild idea and turned it into a tangible reality. As we work feverishly on editing the films for the impending deadline, I am more awed and amazed every day at what they were able to do. In my next post, I’ll write about each crew member (this should take most of the day!) so that you can better understand what I am talking about. They are amazing, courageous, deeply committed people who wove a dream out of thin air.