Kenya / 2022 / 97mins / Drama / English, Kikuyu and Swahili

After seven years in prison, 35-year-old Geoffrey (Justin Mirichii) is released into the care of a Catholic priests’ compound in Shimoni, a small and sleepy village in rural Kenya. As we discover, Geoffrey knows this place—all too well—as “the pit.” A revered English teacher before his time inside, he now does farmyard chores, attends church services as required, and maintains a distance from other residents. Not that he ever goes anywhere else; some unnamed fear prevents him from stepping outside the gate. Then a man with a distinctive patch of white hair appears, terrifying Geoffrey so much that he wets himself. Weru (Daniel Njoroge) has haunted Geoffrey's dreams for decades. Now he can’t face him. Film editor Angela Wanjiku’s gripping directorial debut explores the ways in which memory and emotion seize control of the body, which in turn may speak when words fail.

Angela Wamai

Angela Wanjiku Wamai has been working as s a film editor in Nairobi for 8 years. She loves to edit documentaries because it allows her to observe human beings. She was recently awarded best film editor by the Women in Film awards-Kenya.
In 2017 she wrote a I had to Bury Cucu - a short film that premiered at Clermont Ferrand Short Film Festival. Her directorial debut, Dad, are you OK? a short film premiered at the International Female film Festival in Malmö. In 2022 she completed her feature debut Shimoni (The Pit) which premiered at the Toronto International film festival, and has shown at among others IFFR, FESPACO, and the Red Sea International film festival. The film was awarded the Etalon de Bronze at FESPACO and the golden film award at the Luxor African film festival.
Angela is drawn to stories of broken men and is often exploring the themes of fatherhood, grief and loss in her work. She studied film at EICTV in Havana Cuba. Learn More