By Rachael Diang’a
Between November 21 – 25, 2022, USIU-Africa in collaboration with the French Embassy in Kenya and Hiventy Africa hosted a 360° Masterclass for the creative industry players specializing in sound production and design for film. The highly impactful five-day workshop brought together twenty-five participants drawn from the Kenyan film and animation industry as well as USIU-A students and faculty. The three partners saw the need to narrow the uncomfortable gap between film training and practice and designed a workshop curriculum that would contribute to bridging the gap.

Part of the training was conducted on campus at the Cinematic Arts Department and the main auditorium while the last day of training took place at the Decimal Studios, which is a company specializing in Film sound. one of USIU-Africa’s sound lecturers Keziah Githinji says, “it was very informative and fun experience”. Silas Otieno, a BA Film Production and Directing Junior, who participated in the masterclass feels that the workshop prepared him for the rigorous film industry: “I enjoyed the entire session, and it was indeed educative with the authentic skills and knowledge we are expected of in the industry”. The five participants from USIU-Africa are now expected to share the skills and knowledge learnt with their peers through production projects.

This is the last of a series of workshops/masterclasses that the department of Cinematic arts have organized in the Fall semester, a traditionally very packed quarter in Kenya’s film industry. Others were Great Lakes Creative Film Producers’ Lab, Sembene Across Africa Screening, International Animation Day Celebrations. These events were organized to augment the teaching and learning and build strong bridges into the industry for career placement, internships and further collaborations with the school.