Upcoming screenings and events
How To Build A Library
Two tenacious Kenyan women take on the mighty task of renovating Nairobi's historic library - but can they make a relic of empire relevant and accessible to 21st Century Kenyans?
Built in 1931, Nairobi’s grand McMillan Memorial Library was reserved exclusively for the use of White Europeans, and stayed that way until 1958. By 2017, it has become delapidated and underused, when a pair of intrepid and passionate book-lovers, Shiro and Wachuka, embark on a major modernisation and decolonisation project.
Energised by an ambitious vision of transforming the library into a vibrant cultural hub, Shiro and Wachuka set about bringing the collection, and the library itself, up to date. Along the way, they must navigate local politics, raise millions for the rebuild, win over staff resistant to change and confront the lingering ghosts of Kenya’s colonial past.
