Kenya, Spain & Mexico/2006
English dialogue
Colour/35mm/1:1.66/11 min 30 sec

A beautifully shot, intensely moving portrait of hope and innocence sustained against all the odds.


DIRECTOR'S STATEMENT
After the amazing experience of working in the film The Constant Gardener I wanted to make my own film in Kibera. My intention was to find a powerful story that would show the extreme situation in the slums of Nairobi.
So I went back to listen to the kids from the ghetto, to hear their stories, their feelings, their dreams.

On August 2005 I interviewed about 50 orphan kids in one of the classrooms from Raila's School.
David Mugambe and the school's principal helped me organize the interviews. David passed away just a few weeks later in a car accident. Wherever he is now, I thank him deeply from my heart. The film would not be what it is whithout his help. This film is dedicated to him as well as all the victims of AIDS, poverty and social injustice around the world.

Most of the kids I listened to had lost both parents at a very young age, and all of them from AIDS. The parents were all in their twenties at the time of death.

The kids told me about their feelings of loneliness, their sorrows, their complaints about corruption, pollution, the lack of clean water and sanitization, religious fanatism, the exploitation by adults, and most importantly, the lack of love in their lives, the absence of hope for a better future.

I will never forget how an eight year old kid explained to me how he used decantation to get clean water from black, extremely infected, polluted water. It took him hours, just pouring from one glass to another, waiting for the solids to settle, over and over, so at the end he would boil it and drink it.

All the kids cried for help, one after the other.
They asked me for school uniforms, for books, for food, for water, for money to pay the school's tuition, for pencils/pens and many other things.
I was overwhelmed, I just listened as deeply as I could.

When asked about their dreams and hopes most of them wanted to be airline pilots, doctors or nurses.

After a few hours, I left home very moved.
Suddenly, it was as if something hit me:
80% of them wanted to be airline pilots!
I thought: "I Want to Be A Pilot".

Then I started writing.
I started crying.
Writing, crying. I could not stop either one.
Somehow the words were pouring out of me.
After two days the poem was completed.

Then I went back to Kibera with the sound crew to record the kids reading the poem. After eight kids read the poem, there was one that had a powerful sadness in his voice. It was as if he carried everyone's sorrow.
I had found him. It was Collins, who in the film plays Omondi.

A year later I went back with a Super-8 camera and shot the images for the film.

That's a little bit of the story of how this came into being, I really din't know where it was heading.. I just wanted to listen to them and create something that would inspire us to want to take action.

There are millions of kids in the world victims of the injustices of our industrial civilization, while we are distracted buying things, evading reality.
Our neocolonial policies are taking their toll on our children, on mother earth and all living beings we share this planet with.
Their suffering is ours.
Wake up!
Diego Quemada-Diez

Voice by: Collins Otieno. -
Written, directed and produced by Diego Quemada-Diez. -
Cast: Collins Otieno, Gaudencia Ayuma Shichenga, Kepha Onduru, Joseph Kyalo Kioko. - AD/UPM: Peter Gachanta Njoraa. -
Film Editor: Kim Bica. -
Voice over editing: Aura Bogado, Kim Bica. -
Artist Painting: Choti Simeon Nyamweya. -
Cinematography: Diego Quemada-Diez. -
Music Supervisor: Rhonda Jones. -
Music by: Toumani Diabaté, Sweet Honey In The Rock, and more. -
Associate producers: Martha Sosa, Christian Valdelievre, Michel Ruben. - Sound: Mark Kihara. -
Sound Editor: Jake Eberle -
Sound Mixer: Sam Lehmer, Ikai Lin. -
Online editors: Michael Black, Chuck Caserza. -
Digital effects: Robert Henry, Eric Alba. -
Titles: Jeff Compton. -
Color Timer: Aidan Stanford. -
Website: Juanjo Junoy, Fernando Gonzalez, Inés V. Grimaux

©"I Want To Be A Pilot" 2006 Diego Quemada-Diez,
Kinetic Eye inc.


UK Distributor: Lolita Peliculitas Artes Visuales SL, Madrid, Spain.
email: internacional@ lolitapeliculitas.com
www.lolitapeliculitas.com

International Sales Agent: Premium Films, Paris, France
email: contact@ premium-films.com
web: www.premium-films.com

Production Company: Kinetic Eye Inc, USA.




Awards:
Winner Audience Award for Best Short, 2006 Los Angeles Film Festival (US)
Winner Audience Award for Best Short, 2006 Sao Paulo Int. Film Festival (Brazil)
Winner Audience Award for Best Short and Crystal Heart Award, 2006 Heartland FF (US)
Winner Humanitas Camerio Award, Rimouski IFF 2007 (Canada)
Winner Best Documentary Manhattan Short Film Festival 2007 (US)
Winner Sterling Short Award Honorable Mention Silverdocs FF 2007 (US)
Winner Youth and Human Rights Award, Bologna IFF 2007 (Italy)
Winner Director's Choice Prize Black Maria Film Festival 2007 (US)
Winner Golden Horse Prize Larissa FF Mediterranean competition 2007 (Greece)
Winner Bologna International Human Rights Nights FF 2007 Youth and Human Rights Award (Italy)
Winner M3 Wireless Bermuda Shorts Award, 2007 Bermuda IFF (US)
Winner Premio della sezione Percorsi, MoliseCinema FF 2007 (Italy)
Winner Best Documentary Short Film Award, 2007 Cleveland IFF (US)
Winner YouthFEST Short Film Award, Sarasota Film Festival 2007 (US)
Winner Best Editing Festival de Cine Pobre 2007 (Cuba)
Winner XXIX Certamen Nacional de FotografÌa y Cine Palencia-Imagen 2007 (Spain)
Winner Best Short, I Festival Internacional de Calasparra 2007 (Spain)
Winner Best Experimental Documentary Canarias Mediafest 2006 (Spain)
Winner Audience Award and Winner Best Short Film, Alucine Film Festival 2007 (Spain)
Winner Best Documentary Short, Eibar Assier Errasti Film Festival 2007 (Spain)
Winner Best Short, Vila-Real Short Film Festival 2007 (Spain)
Winner Best Short, I Festival de Nerva 2007 (Spain)
Winner Best Directing and Best Music, VI Festival de Playa de las Américas 2007 (Spain)
Winner Audience Award, Festival SOS Racismo 2007 (Spain)
Winner Best Documentary, 2007 Festival de Terrasa (Spain)
Winner Best Short, 2007 Festival Intermon Oxfam (Spain)
Winner Guillermo F. Zuñiga Award, Espiello Film Festival 2007 (Spain)
Winner Best Short Documentary, Play-Doc Film Festival 2007 (Spain)
Winner Best Short Film, 2007 Festival de Cine de Boadilla del Monte (Spain)
Winner Special Mention, 2007 Festival Secuencia Cero (Spain)
Winner Best Short Festival Siroco de Benetuser 2007 (Spain)
Winner Best Short Cineculpable FF 2006 (Spain)
Winner Onda Corta Award, Radio Television Portuguesa, Curtocircuito FF 2007 (Spain)
Winner Best Documentary Short, 2007 X Maniatan FF (Spain)
2nd Prize Best Short, San Roque Film Festival 2007 (Spain)

Film Festivals, official selection:
2007 Locarno Film festival (Switzerland)
2007 Edinburgh Film festival (UK)
2007 Sundance Film Festival (US)
2006 AFIFEST (US)
2006 Telluride Film Festival (US)
2006 Huesca International Film Festival (Spain)
2007 San Francisco Film Festival (US)
2006 Hawai International Film Festival (US)
2006 Chicago Childrenís Film Festival (US)
2006 Viña Del Mar International Film Festival (Chile)
2007 Santa Barbara International Film Festival (US)
2007 Auckland International Film Festival (New Zealand)
2007 Wellington Film Festival (New Zealand)
2007 Melbourne International Film Festival (Australia)
2007 Boulder International Film Festival (US)
2006 Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival (US)
2006 Flickerfest (Australia)
2007 V Bienal Da Une (Brazil)
2007 Sedona International Film Festival (US)
2007 AFI Dallas Film Festival (US)
2007 Black Maria Film Festival (US)
2007 Indianapolis Film Festival (US)
2007 Aspen Shorts International Film Festival (US)
2007 Atlanta Film Festival (US)
2007 Ficco (Mexico)
2007 Flanders International Film Festival-Ghent (Belgium)
2007 Nantucket Film Festival (US)
2007 Maui Film Festival (US)
2007 Newport Film Festival (US)
2007 Guerrilla Film Fest (US)
2007 Maryland Film Festival (US)
2007 Jackson Hole Film Festival (US)
2007 Athens International Film Festival (US)
2007 San Francisco Black Film Festival (US)
2007 Festival de Cine de Bogota (Colombia)
2007 Festival de Cine de Lima (Peru)
2007 Middle Eastern FF (EAU)
2007 Tehran Film Festival (Iran)
2007 Tricontinental FF (India)
2007 Milwaukee FF (US)
2007 Cucaloris FF (US)
2007 Zimbawue FF
Festival de Cine Social de Torrijos
VIII Festival Sonorama 2007
VAD Festival Internacional de Vídeo y Artes Digitales
III Festival de Cortometrajes "Paradiso" de Barrax
39ª Muestra Cinematográfica del Atlántico - Alcances de Cádiz
VIII Festival de Cortometrajes VivirdeCine'07
VIII Concurso Iberoamericano de Cortometrajes Versión Española/SGAE
V Muestra Documental Etnico de Sobrarbe
VI Concurso De Cortometrajes Creatrivas De Rivas
Vaciamadrid 2007
VI Festival Playa de las Américas de Arona
3º Festival Artífice de video-cortometraje
Festival la Boca del Lobo
Festival FIlmets
I Festival de cortometrajes de El Escorial
Festival Abycine de Albacete
Festival de Cine de Pamplona
L'Alternativa 2006
Festival Cinematográfico El Ojo Cojo
13 Edición Festival Corto Ciudad Real
Festival Festicurt de Figueres
II Festival Audiovisual Tikino
Festival internacional de cortos de temática social de Nou Barris
VI Cicle de Curtmetratges "Agustí Comes" de Vinaròs
Festival de cortometrajes Ciudad de Calahorra
EIFF 2007 - Edinburgh (Scotland, UK)
19 Festival de cine de LÁlfás del Pi
FOC CINEMA
II Festival Internacional de Cine de Sax (FICS)
Festival Neff de Vitoria
Mostra de Curtometratges de Sagunt
Erandioko 4º Film Laburren Jaialdia
Festival Dunas de Fuerteventura
IV Festival Internacional de Cortos de Erandio -SPAIN
24 Marató de l'Espectacle
Premios Siroco
IV Certamen Nacional de Cortometrajes "Ciudad de Dos Hermanas"
Cine y video en la Feria Internacional del Libro
Universitario 2007 Universidad Autónoma de Baja
California
VIII Festival Internacional de Cortometrajes de Torrelavega
Fascurt
IV Muestra de Cortometrajes "Torre Castilnovo"
Cortomenar 2007
Festival Envideo de Cáceres
IV Festival Internacional de Cine Solidario de Navarcles (FICNA)
Festival de jóvenes realizadores de Granada
Certamen de Cortometrajes "El Pecado 2006"
4º Festival de Cine de Ponferrada