The final summer 2009 screenings of Operation Imani took place on August 11 and 12 in Waterloo. Thanks to some great publicity from the KW Record and Waterloo Chronicle both shows sold out. See the Media > Media Coverage section of the website for these articles, as well as some new radio interviews I did.
Thanks to everyone who helped make the screening tour a success, either by working on my behalf or coming out to support it. I hope to continue screening the documentary in the future, please continue spreading the word.
Greg
We are reaching the end of the current Operation Imani cross-Canada screening tour. The Toronto shows went well, with a combined crowd of about 200 people seeing the two shows. The final leg of the tour takes place Tuesday and Wednesday August 11/12 at Princess Twin in Waterloo. Both shows start at 9pm and tickets are $10.
Operation Imani screened in Ottawa on Thursday July 30th to its biggest audience yet, with over 170 people in attendance. The highlight of the Q & A was an elderly gentleman who had immigrated to Canada from Africa a number of years ago - he stood up and delivered an empassioned one-minute speech suggesting that the approaches being implemented at Imani are exactly what are needed. This was followed by loud applause, which seemed to be an endorsement of his thoughts. Will there be more one-minute empassioned speeches at the Toronto shows? There’s only one way to find out:
Royal Theatre (608 College), Wednesday August 5th, 7:15pm
Revue Cinema (400 Roncesvalles), Thursday August 6th, 7:15pm
Be sure to check out the Media & Feedback section of this website for some recent coverage of Operation Imani, including interviews and media coverage.
The West Coast leg of the Operation Imani Canadian tour wrapped up this past week-end after successful screenings in Vancouver (2) and Calgary. All three screenings were well-attended, and the feedback I received for the documentary was positive. This was particularly meaningful considering the quality of the audiences–it was clear from the Q & A that many members of the audience were well informed about development issues already. At each of the three shows we had to stop the Q & A portion as time had run out.
Looking forward to the Ottawa (July 30), Toronto (Aug 5, 6) and Waterloo shows (Aug 11, 12)…keep spreading the word!
Just a reminder that the WORLD PREMIERE of Operation Imani: Ideas for Sustainable African Development is in only 3 days time. July 10th, 7:15pm at Fifth Avenue Cinemas (2110 Burrard Street Vancouver). Make sure to SPREAD THE WORD to all your Vancouver contacts!
A little (somewhat unrelated) teaser: those that make it out to the screenings will hear a Tanzanian hip hop song playing over the closing credits. It’s called “Peace and Love” and it’s performed by a close Tanzanian friend of mine named Nico “Wisemad” Benjamin. When I was first dabbling in amateur filmmaking I threw together this little piece on Nico, who spent 4 years living on the streets as a child. Check it out.
The WORLD PREMIERE of Operation Imani will take place this upcoming Friday July 10th in Vancouver at Fifth Avenue Cinemas with a follow up show on Tuesday July 14th. Also on the horizon is the July 16th screening in Calgary. Make sure to spread the word to your Vancouver contacts.
In other news, 1000 DVD copies of Operation Imani are now in my possession and will be available for sale soon.
Click here to listen to Greg’s interview on African Vibes 102.7 FM with host Victor Obosi from 28/6 about the upcoming Vancouver screenings. Hear Greg give shout outs to Vancouver’s East African community in Swahili.
The final cut of “Operation Imani” has been submitted for replicating, and in about two weeks DVD copies will be available for sale.
Check back soon for the official Operation Imani trailer. In the meantime, make sure to check out my other website, www.mzungudays.com, which contains blogs from my second year in Tanzania. One of the posts contains more information about the Imani project, as well as a picture of the huge, green, flying Tanzanian superbug that greeted me at home one day (I later found out it was a praying mantis).
Make sure to join Operation Imani’s facebook group, with over 100 members and counting!
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