UAACC
Film makers set to document Kolo Rock Paintings
By Charlotte Hill
O’Neal (courtesy
of ARUSHA TIMES newspaper)
Jan. 2005
The year was 2003 and I
was drenched with sweat, my knees and back was aching and my palms were red with
little cuts and scratches. My sister, Sharon, perhaps even more tired than me,
had burst into tears at her accomplishment once we reached the top of the hill
we had climbed. We both stood blankly staring, still a bit numb, at the blood
coloured paintings that adorned the smooth surface of the rock caves exterior
walls.
It didn’t really hit us, until we had drunk a couple of swigs of tepid water and
felt our legs once again under us securely, that we were actually looking at the
art work of somebody’s hand who had lived probably more than 5,000 years ago! I
could hardly imagine the surreal reality of this event and stood grinning like a
maniac with the thought.
How could something this old, something so exposed to the natural elements still
be preserved to the point where we could actually make out the dreadlocked hair
of the dancers and hunters and the bristling fur of their prey? Did the people
in the community there in Kondoa, Dodoma Region, visit these sites regularly and
recite the history to their children or do they leave admiration of this ancient
phenomena to foreigners and city residents and old adventurers like myself?
Well, two young film makers, Anwary Msechu and Samwel Obae, both long time
volunteer teachers at the United African Alliance Community Center UAACC, are
set to explore these questions and more, in a new documentary film. And even
better, they recently received news that they have been awarded a National
Geographic All Roads Film Project seed grant for the film they proposed
titled, History of the Warangi Tribe and Kolo Paintings!
This is an unprecedented opportunity for these young men not only as new
African film makers but also it will prove to be a wonderful chance for people
around the world to learn more about an important area of Tanzania that is not
well known or documented.
Msechu and Sam are known around Arusha in their capacity as community activists,
rappers, HIV/AIDS awareness trainers and directors of the UAACC based Kush Kemet
Actors Group, but many people don’t know that these two enterprising and
creative men have also been taking film making classes and even have a few films
to their credit already, excerpts from one on the POV/PBS website, of all
places! Talking about starting out with a BANG!
