SHOKO! Festival Documentary (Zimbabwe)
The monumental task of putting together an international festival in Zimbabwe right now would be enough to scare most organisers away at the planning stages, but thankfully not everyone is easily intimidated.
The Shoko International Spoken Word & Hip Hop Festival is a celebration of poetry, hip hop and urban culture that strives for positive social change and democracy. Running in Harare, Zimbabwe, from the 21st – 24th September, the inaugural Shoko included live concerts, an artists’ debate, an international poetry slam, film screenings, live recordings, live graffiti and a cultural activist conference. The festival succeeded to bring in acts from 8 different countries including headline acts such as Akala (UK), Tumi & the Volume (SA), Hired Gun (USA) and Andreattah Chuma (Botswana).
Make no mistake, the fact that the organisers managed to pull this off (and so successfully) all in the space of 6 months, is nothing short of amazing. With all the work (and frustrations) that would have happened behind the scenes to make SHOKO! a reality, I cannot give enough praise to @ComradeFatsooo, @OutspokenAlphaI, @NomadicWax and the rest of the Magamba Network team for their efforts.
Being Zimbabwean myself, it gives me immense pride seeing social projects like this which celebrate hip hop culture in such a positive environment, something which will undoubtably benefit the community.
The documentary is fairly long (15 minutes) so go make a cup of tea while you let the video buffer, then sit back and enjoy a window into one of the most ambitious, forward thinking and positive festivals to take place on the African continent.
1,200 people visited Shoko over its four day duration. Meanwhile there were over 50 performances and 15 workshops/seminars took place.
In the prevailing climate of fear in Zimbabwe the Shoko Festival proved to be unique in its use of urban culture for social change and democratization. Through the debates, workshops, conferences and concerts Shoko created a free space for open democratic debate while also encouraging a new generation of spoken word and hip hop artists.
The documentary showcases the best of the festival including the concerts, workshops, talks, poetry slams, graffiti, break dancing and the like. The film also has interviews with the organizers and artists involved revealing why such an event is key in contributing to social and political change.
If you want more (and if your bandwidth allows), head over to the Magamba Network YouTube channel where you can watch full-length concerts by all the performers including Tumi and the Volume (SA), Akala (UK) and Monkey Nuts (Zim) – as well as footage from the workshops and lectures.
More than enough to keep you busy for a few hours..
@ShokoFestival | Shoko! Festival on Facebook
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