the education of auma obama
a documentary about her, the education of auma obama, has just been shown at the new york african film festival .
the education of auma obama is a captivating and intimate portrait of the u. s. president' s older half - sister, who embodies a post - colonial, feminist identity .
one branch of president obama’s fascinating family tree reveals its own compelling story in branwen okpako’s “the education of auma obama. ” born of the same father but raised by a different mother in the family’s kenyan homeland, obama’s half - sister auma describes a life of intellectual inquiry and social activism that mirrors the future president’s. blessed [ … ]
alongside auma and her family was filmmaker branwen okpako, who was making a documentary about auma ,
the education of auma obama ,
which is being shown in london tuesday to coincide with the u. s. election and as part of the film africa festival .
the education of auma obama
will be shown in london on this year' s election day, tuesday, november 6, as part of the film africa festival, and okpako will be there for a question and answer session with the audience .
the documentary by nigeria - born filmmaker branwen okpako gives alimited view of the life of barack obama' s half - sister .
one branch of president obama’s fascinating family tree reveals its own compelling story in branwen okpako’s “the education of auma obama. ” born of the same father but raised by a different mother in the family’s kenyan homeland, obama’s half - sister auma describes a life of intellectual inquiry and social activism that mirrors the future president’s. blessed with remarkable access to the obamas during the 2008 election, the modestly made docu has little style but is engaging enough to lure fest interest and tube buyers .
auma obama at her family' s homestead in the village of kogelo, kenya, in 2008 as her half brother attempted to become president of the united states .
a dullish portrait of a figure whose doc - worthiness isn' t well established here, the education of auma obama offers a feel for the kenyan side of the president' s family that will interest only those with an unusual level of curiosity about him. unlikely to draw viewers to theaters, it' s most appropriate for educational tv .
during his inaugural speech as president of the united states in 2008, barack obama paid tribute to his kenyan family, including his half - sister auma obama .
a feature documentary on the life and times of auma obama told from her homestead in kenya during the run up to the 2008 us presidential elections that brought her brother barack obama to power .
one branch of president obama' s fascinating family tree reveals its own compelling story in branwen okpako' s
the education of auma obama .
born of the same father but raised by a different mother in the family' s kenyan homeland, obama' s half - sister auma describes a life of intellectual inquiry and social activism that mirrors the future president' s. blessed with remarkable access to the obamas during the 2008 election, the modestly made docu has little style but is engaging enough to lure fest interest and tube buyers .
branwen okpako explains her inspiration behind creating a film about obama' s sister, auma obama, on saharatv .
okpako says auma was initially reticent about the film because of the huge media interest in her family that came with barack obama' s rise to prominence .
the final third of the film offers some home movies of the younger barack, as he visits his sister and explores his ancestral homeland. but the novelty of glimpsing obama in this casual setting is small reward for watching the often dry material that precedes it .
with: with: auma obama, kezia obama, elke brenstein, marsat osumba onyango. (english, german, luo dialogue )
with: with: auma obama, kezia obama, elke brenstein, marsat osumba onyango. (english, german, luo dialogue )
film director branwen okpako has been friends with auma obama since they met in berlin in the early 1990s .
born 1960 in nairobi. she is the older half - sister to us - president barack obama. auma obama was born to the government official barack obama sen. (1936 – 1982) and his wife kezia obama - she has ten siblings and half - siblings .
auma obama grew up in the village of kogelo, kenya. she has lived in germany and the uk, and is now a social worker and youth advocate in nairobi .
auma with her paternal grandmother sarah - - a relative she shares with president barack obama .
dr. rita auma obama was born in nairobi in 1960. she is a germanist, sociologist, journalist und author. auma obama studied in germany from 1980 onwards and graduated in the nineties. she is the older half - sister to us - president barack obama .
okpako had the idea for a film about her friend auma in the run - up to the 2008 election .
okpako traveled with auma obama to many significant places in her life to trace her story. she had hoped to interview barack obama for the film, but was unable to arrange time with the president .
it was a night auma obama remembers well .
we had a lot of people visiting to watch with us ,
she says .
there was a lot of excitement because it had been such a tough race. there was a sense of relief that all the hard work had paid off .
we meet auma in nairobi in 2008, as she prepares to visit the village of her father, the first barack hussein obama, to watch election results with family members. the doc' s most compelling storytelling has little to do with auma - - anecdotes about the elder barack and his stern, ambitious father paint a picture that is unhappy in terms of family dynamics but does suggest that sharp minds and driven natures run strong in the obama bloodline .
auma obama, kezia obama, marsat osumba onyango, mama sarah obama, elke brenstein, gloria hagberg, paula schramm, lois wambui thuo, njeri karago, prof. wierlacher, jai gonzales, alfons l. ims, wanjiru kinyanjui and others
we were reading the newspapers and reading the statistics, but of course we didn' t know what was going to happen. it was intense and full of anticipation .
auma, who lives in nairobi, traveled with okpako to the family' s homestead in the village of kogelo, where her grandmother lives and barack senior is buried .
she adds :
all the family was there, the grandmother, all the cousins. once the result was known everybody in the village came into the compound to celebrate. there must have been hundreds of people there .
when barack obama won the u. s. election four years ago, his kenyan half sister auma was with her family at their homestead, watching the historic occasion on television .
nigeria - born filmmaker branwen okpako starts cold, offering viewers no hint that there' s anything remarkable about auma obama beyond sharing a father with the leader of the free world. half the movie will elapse before we hear a single thing that makes the title character sound remarkable at all, and even then, auma' s intellectual accomplishments are more listed than explored .
in it, among other things, she contrasts her views about kenya with those of her brother during one of his visits to the african country several years before he became the first black american president .
following positions in england, she eventually returned to kenya, where she has been engaged with the humanitarian organization care for many years. in july 2010 she joined the jacobs foundation board of trustees, and is furthermore the initiator and chief executive of the sauti kuu foundation .
the bbc' s leslie goffe spoke to the documentary' s director, the welsh - nigerian film maker branwen okpako, who first met ms obama in film school in germany in the early 1990s .
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auma obama grew up in the family' s homestead in kogelo before moving to germany where she spent 16 years as a journalist, broadcaster and studied for a phd in german literature .
auma’s tale begins with mother kezia, who recalls her 1965 meeting with her eventual husband, barack; his father was a tough taskmaster, but provided a standard of living above those of most neighbors. auma’s viewpoint on her father’s departure to america, and the new life he made for himself, is colored with pain, but the separation was eventually healed with her half - brother’s kenyan visit (shown in some lovely homemade footage of a younger obama, later revisiting with wife michelle). auma’s university years in heidelberg and eventual teaching career prove to be personal triumphs, making pic a positive study in female african achievement .
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eventually we come to understand that auma shares her brother' s intellectual and political inclinations, but - - despite interviewing mentors, colleagues, and auma herself - - okpako doesn' t communicate the meat of her work. she tells us that auma studied linguistics, performed with a dance troupe, and works on social issues, but in an insubstantial way that (along with the subject' s tendency to move restlessly around the world) might lead an unsympathetic viewer to decide auma is more flighty than serious .
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we were two of four african women studying at the film school at the time and we talked a lot about how the african continent was portrayed in film and how we wanted to change it ,
says okpako .
the film is partly a fly - on - the - wall documentary about the family watching the 2008 election from their homestead, and partly uses interviews and old footage to tell the family' s story .
auma shares a father - - barack senior - - with her younger half brother, barack. the pair did not meet until after their father died in 1982 and barack got in touch with auma to explore his kenyan roots .
auma says she has to work on election day, but she will still be watching events unfold .
the president did, however, get to hear about the film when the cameraman' s mother - in - law visited the white house with german chancellor angela merkel and told him about it .
okpako, 43, a nigerian - born filmmaker living in germany, became friends with auma when they were both film students in berlin in the early 1990s .
„he was criticized for his ideas - or not even criticized, but people questioned it and weren‘t really impressed. i am impressed that over all these years he kept committed to what he believed in and now he really is one of the pioneers of what we are now calling ‚bio - agriculture‘. “
the film premiered at last year' s toronto international film festival and has won awards at the panafrican film festival in los angeles and the africa international film festival in lagos .
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trippy indie madeline' s madeline is the movie that lakeith stanfield and boots riley from sorry to bother you want to see the most .
it has put me in the limelight in a way that wouldn' t have happened otherwise ,
says auma .
i don' t like talking about my family but it' s great if it gives me the chance to talk about my work with deprived and underprivileged children .
auma recalls :
i wasn' t particularly enthusiastic when branwen first suggested the film, but i agreed because she is a friend and i trusted her. if it had been a stranger, i don' t think i would have done it .
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documentary about the president' s older half - sister supplies some interesting family backstory but fails at making its subject compelling. twitter
the film deals with that moment in time when history was made, but also how they got to that moment .
venue: toronto international film festival production companies: filmkantine ug filmkantine ug in co - production with zdf / das kleine fernsehspiel and branwen okpako director: branwen okpako producers: katrin springer, volker ullrich director of photography: kolja brandt music: jean - paul bourelly. editor: branwen okpako. no rating, 79 minutes .
we were sitting together for 10 days waiting for the election and reflecting how we got to this moment in time ,
says okpako .
she then lived for a period in the united kingdom before returning to kenya, where she works now as a social worker and youth advocate .
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was born in nigeria. she studied political science in england, followed by studies in film direction in berlin .
masters film direction german film & television academy berlin (dffb) 1992 - 1999 .
filmkantine ug menzelstraße 27 12157 berlin germany phone: + 49 30 69205469 fax: + 49 30 8537563 mail: info @ urltoken www. urltoken
enjoy a night in with these popular movies available to stream now with prime video .
production: a filmkantine presentation in co - production with zdf / das kleine fernsehspiel and branwen okpako. produced by katrin springer, volker ullrich. directed, written, edited by branwen okpako .
crew: camera (color / b & w, hd), kolja brandt; music, jean - paul bourelly. reviewed at toronto film festival (real to reel), sept. 13, 2011. running time: 80 min .
i will never forget that period in their homestead ,
says okpako .
it was indescribable. imagine something like that is happening to your family, yet so far away .
i thought it would be good to have him as a small character in a film about an african woman, but it wasn' t possible ,
she said .
he asked for a copy and we sent it, but i don' t know if he has watched it ,
says okpako .
i think it would be interesting for him to see what his kenyan family was doing that day .
i follow my brother' s career as closely as any sibling would ,
she says .
it' s important for me to know whether or not he is happy in his job ,
she adds .
he makes me very proud because he has a tough job and does it 100% to his ability .
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the education of auma obama is a 2011 german documentary on the life of barack obama 's half-sister auma obama . it won the best diaspora documentary award at the africa movie academy awards . 
the education of auma obama is a 2011 german documentary on the life of barack obama's half-sister auma obama. it won the best diaspora documentary award at the africa movie academy awards.
the education of auma obama is a 2011 german documentary on the life of barack obama's half-sister auma obama. it won the best diaspora documentary award at the africa movie academy awards.