Tanzania / 1993 / 57mins / Docufiction / Swahili

Ingeniously blending fact and fiction, Shida and Matatizo is a moving plea against the exploitation of children in Tanzania. Two young children, Shida and Matatizo, work a "double day" going to school and then doing intensive manual labor to help support their families. In search of a better life, they run away to the city. There, Matatizo falls in with a group of homeless children living in the streets and scrounging garbage, while Shida finds work as a domestic servant, caring for an entire household and two infants until tragedy strikes.

Flora M’mbugu-Schelling

Flora M’mbugu-Schelling was born in Tanzania and attended the Tanzanian School of Journalism in Dar es Salaam. She studied and trained in Germany and France. Her documentary films include Kumekucha (From Sun Up – 1987), which won a gold metal at the New York International Film Festival, and Shida and Matatizo (1993); These Hands (1992), deriving its title from a poem she wrote, has received many awards, including the Joris Ivers Award and the Perugia Prize in Italy. Learn More