Private Project

The Cults

A colonial text about a Kenyan anti-European cult is teleported to a future techno-culture. On a dump site, a sorry creature continues to scrounge for resources and worship standardized digital gadgets. Meanwhile, three women create a mythic lifeworld with reappropriated waste technologies.

The Cults is a post-colonial sci-fi short, shot on Nairobi's largest dump site, Dandora. It is based on - and responds to - the ethnographic text 'The Cult of Mumbo in South Kavirondo' by 'Nyangweso' (1930) and John Marshall's documentary film 'The Hunters' (1957).

The film is produced on 16mm celluloid, the medium of historical ethnographic documentaries.

  • Dani Ploeger
    Director
  • Dani Ploeger
    Writer
  • Greenman Muleh Mbillo, Joan Otieno, Dani Ploeger
    Producer
  • Winnie Lubembe
    Key Cast
    "First woman"
  • Mama Shelmith
    Key Cast
    "Second woman"
  • Yvonne Nzilani
    Key Cast
    "Third woman"
  • Dani Ploeger
    Key Cast
    "The European"
  • Jochem Weststrate
    Director of photography
  • Project Type:
    Experimental, Short
  • Runtime:
    6 minutes 11 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    September 15, 2021
  • Production Budget:
    10,000 GBP
  • Country of Origin:
    United Kingdom
  • Country of Filming:
    Kenya
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital transferred to 16mm
  • Aspect Ratio:
    4:3
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Dani Ploeger

Dani Ploeger is an artist who makes videos, objects and software to explore situations of conflict and crisis on the fringes of the world of high-tech consumerism. His work has been exhibited at ZKM Karlsruhe, Venice Architecture Biennale, transmediale, V&A Museum London and The New Institute in Rotterdam. He holds a PhD from the University of Sussex, UK, and is currently a Research Fellow at The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, University of London, and a Fellow at V2_Lab for the unstable media in Rotterdam. He is represented by Art Claims Impulse in Berlin.

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